The functional role of octopamine and tyramine during insect behaviour

在这项研究提案中，目的是了解生物胺如何协调昆虫的行为，作为一个例子，我们将使用“对”酪胺/章鱼胺。章鱼胺和酪胺在调节运动行为方面起着重要作用，一般而言，章鱼胺将整个生物体从更静态的状态改变为更动态的状态，参与攻击、觅食、社会行为、学习和记忆。我们将与识别的或具有类型特征的神经元合作，并通过记录它们来研究它们在发育和行为过程中活动的准确时间。我们将首先详细研究大脑中下行的酪胺能/八胺能神经元的感觉输入、活动模式和输出，以揭示它们之间的联系。其次，我们将研究不同行为条件下的酪胺能/八胺能神经元，从而揭示它们各自的酪胺/八胺比率，它们在某些行为期间会发生显著变化。第三，我们想研究酪胺和章鱼胺对中枢网络的具体影响。第四，由于我们可以确定酪胺能/八胺能神经元，而且我们知道章鱼和酪胺免疫反应物在不同脑区的分布，我们想要研究这些神经元的释放机制以及I型(运动)和II型(神经调制)终末的功能差异，包括它们的超微结构。

In this research proposal the aim is to understand how insect behaviour is orchestrated by biogenic amines, and as an example we shall use the “pair” tyramine/octopamine. Octopamine and tyramine play important roles in modulating motor behaviour and, in general, octopamine changes the whole organism from a more static to a more dynamic state and is involved in aggression, foraging, social behaviour, learning and memory. We shall work with identified or type-characterized neurons and by recording from them study the precise timing of their activity during development and behaviour. In detail we shall firstly study descending tyraminergic/octopaminergic neurons of the brain with respect to their sensory inputs, their patterns of activity, their outputs, in order to reveal their connectivity. Secondly, we shall study tyraminergic/octopaminergic neurons under different behavioural conditions and, thus, reveal their respective tyramine/octopamine ratios which dramatically change during certain behaviours. Thirdly, we would like to study the specific effects of tyramine and octopamine on central networks. Fourthly, as we can identify tyraminergic/octopaminergic neurons and as we know the distribution of octopamine- and tyramine-immunoreactivity in different compartments, we would like to study the release mechanisms of these neurons and the functional differences between type I (motor) and type II (neuromodulatory) terminals including their ultrastructure.