Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition

项目总结 催产素(OT)系统可能是增强社会认知的最可行的神经生物学靶点 社会功能受损的精神障碍，包括自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)。在动物身上， OT增强了神经对社交暗示的反应，从而促进了社交识别、依恋和 奖励。在患有ASD的人中，鼻内OT增强了大脑奖励系统对社会刺激的反应，增加了 凝视他人的眼睛，提高社会互惠程度。鼻腔催产素治疗慢性阻塞性肺疾病的疗效观察 障碍受限于对大脑的低透视率。为了给未来的翻译应用程序提供信息，我们的目标是 是为了更好地理解OT影响社会信息处理的确切机制 在内在或外在奖励的背景下。社会学习涉及到语境中的社会信息处理 这对规范的社交技能发展至关重要，而OT在这一过程中的作用是一个核心 中心的主题。我们将保持高度协调的、跨学科的研究计划，包括 优秀的调查团队，测试OT通过增强流量促进社交学习这一假设 涉及显著和奖励的神经网络中的信息。项目科学家将使用尖端技术 在社交参与过程中操纵特定回路中的OT信号的技术，以了解OT如何 影响与社会相关的神经通讯。项目1将检查药物诱发的 一夫一妻制草原中社会显著脑网络中社会相遇时内源性OT的释放 具有高密度或低密度OT受体的田鼠。项目2将同时进行电生理 在社会纽带形成过程中处理社会信息和奖励的三个大脑区域的记录 草原田鼠。电路的光遗传操作将被用来测试OT-T之间的因果关系。 依赖神经活动和社会依恋。项目3将分析光遗传刺激的影响 在社会学习的背景下，OT释放和靶基因突变对大鼠神经交流的影响 使用外在增强剂的范例。我们将研究OT和胆碱能系统之间的潜在相互作用。 项目4将记录恒河猴在局部注射OT后这些相同脑区的神经活动 同时执行基于外在奖励的社会歧视视觉任务。生物分析核心将提供至关重要的 为研究项目提供组织学、基因分型和神经分子表型鉴定服务。A管理人员 CORE将管理所有与中心相关的活动(研讨会系列、会议、试点项目赠款)，提供统计 咨询和协调中心人员的外展和培训活动，加强现有的 并与众多组织建立新的关系。因此，中心将创造一个充满活力的 将对全国心理健康产生影响的合作研究、培训和外联环境 研究。中心教职员工收集的数据将具有重要的翻译意义，将为小说 治疗精神障碍中的社会缺陷的策略。

PROJECT SUMMARY The oxytocin (OT) system is perhaps the most viable neurobiological target for enhancing social cognition in psychiatric disorders with compromised social function, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In animals, OT enhances neural responsiveness to social cues, thereby facilitating social recognition, attachment and reward. In humans with ASD, intranasal OT enhances brain reward system responses to social stimuli, increases gaze to the eyes of others, and improves social reciprocity. The efficacy of intranasal OT as a therapy for social disorders is limited by poor penetrance into the brain. In order to inform future translational applications, our goal is to gain a better understanding of the precise mechanisms by which OT influence social information processing in the context of intrinsic or extrinsic reward. Social learning involves social information processing in the context of reward and is paramount to normative social skill development, and the role of OT in this process is a central theme of the Center. We will sustain a highly coordinated, interdisciplinary research program involving an outstanding team of investigators to test the hypothesis that OT facilitates social learning by enhancing the flow of information across neural networks involved in salience and reward. Project scientists will use cutting-edge techniques to manipulate OT signaling in specific circuits during social engagement to understand how OT influences socially relevant neural communication. Project 1 will examine the effect of pharmacologically-evoked endogenous OT release during a social encounter on a social salience brain network in monogamous prairie voles that have high or low densities of OT receptors. Project 2 will perform simultaneous electrophysiological recordings in three brain regions that process social information and reward during social bond formation in prairie voles. Optogenetic manipulations of the circuit will be used to test causal relationships between OT- dependent neural activity and social attachment. Project 3 will analyze the influence of optogenetic stimulation of OT release and targeted genetic mutations on neural communication in rats in the context of a social learning paradigm using extrinsic reinforcers. A potential interaction of OT and cholinergic systems will be examined. Project 4 will record neural activity in these same brain regions following local OT infusion in rhesus macaques while performing an extrinsic reward-based social discrimination visual task. A Bioanalytic Core will provide vital histological, genotyping and neural molecular phenotyping services for the research Projects. An Administrative Core will manage all Center related activities (seminar series, meetings, Pilot Project grants), provide statistical consultation and coordinate outreach and training activities of Center personnel by strengthening existing relationships and forging new ones with numerous organizations. As a result, the Center will create a vibrant collaborative research, training and outreach environment that will have a national impact on mental health research. The data collected by Center faculty will have important translational implications that will inform novel strategies for treating social deficits in psychiatric disorders.