Cellular Mechanisms of Activation and Control of Complex Behavior by Peptidergic Neurons

多肽能神经元激活和控制复杂行为的细胞机制：当动物长时间接触其他个体产下的大量卵时，多肽能神经内分泌神经元被激活。中枢神经系统中这些神经元的激活反过来导致同一个体的一系列行为，包括产卵，产卵期间作为雌性交配，以及产卵后作为雄性交配。在这个过程中，一个信号刺激（可能是卵子中的化学刺激）导致了一系列行为，这与其他动物的生殖过程中由基因决定的本能行为相似。这种制备有利于详细的研究，因为可以在减少的实验制备和完整的动物中监测肽能神经元的活性，并且可以在细胞和分子水平上相当详细地研究它们对神经元回路的影响以及与行为控制的关系。一个目标是详细描述肽能神经元释放的神经递质如何影响行为过程中控制运动和摄食的神经元回路。和其他动物一样，它们的生殖行为似乎有一种内在的驱动，在这种驱动中，卵块中释放的刺激诱导产卵的阈值根据生殖周期而变化。我们希望进一步测试的一个想法是，多肽能神经元的生理特性和激发它们的细胞构成了内部驱动的神经机制。这项研究将使我们更清楚地了解肽能神经系统对复杂的、遗传决定的行为的神经调节的作用。这种神经系统的组织和控制原理可能有助于理解高级形式复杂行为背后的基本机制。

LAY ABSTRACT IBN-9807914 Cellular mechanisms of Activation and Control of Complex Behavior by Peptidergic Neuron Peptidergic neuroendocrine neurons are activated when an animal makes prolonged contact with a mass of eggs laid by other individuals. Activation of these neurons in the central nervous system, in turn, results in a sequence of behaviors in the same individual, including egg laying, mating as a female during egg laying, and mating as a male after egg laying. This process in which a sign stimulus (possibly a chemical stimulus in the egg mass) leads to a sequence of behaviors has parallels to genetically determined, instinctive behavior associated with reproduction in other animals. This preparation is advantageous for detailed investigation since activity of the peptidergic neurons can be monitored in both reduced experimental preparations and intact animals, and their effects on neuronal circuits and relationships to behavioral control can be investigated at the cellular and molecular levels in considerable detail. One goal is to describe in detail how neurotransmitters released from the peptidergic neurons affect neuronal circuits controlling locomotion and feeding during the behaviors. As in other animals, there appears to be an internal drive for reproductive behavior, in which the threshold for induction of egg laying by the releasing stimulus in the egg mass changes according to the reproductive cycle. An idea we wish to test further is that the physiological properties of the peptidergic neurons and cells that excite them constitute the neural mechanism for the internal drive. The research should result in a clearer understanding of the contributions of peptidergic neural systems to neural regulation of complex, genetically determined behaviors. The principles of organization and control by this neural system may be useful for understanding fundamental mechanisms that underlie complex behavior in higher forms.