CAREER: Linking behavioral development to neural plasticity in the medial amygdala

青春期是一个以剧烈的行为变化为标志的生命阶段。在青春期，生殖轴成熟，导致性腺类固醇水平远远高于成年期正常水平。由于青春期发生了深刻的情感、认知和社会变化，性腺激素必须深刻地影响大脑的连通性和功能。然而，这种影响在很大程度上是未知的。在这个项目中，行为观察、电生理学和神经药理学将被用于确定青春期出现一种离散行为倾向的神经机制：对异性气味的吸引。预计睾酮会引起大脑区域内称为杏仁核的特定兴奋性突触连接进行长期增强，即突触效能的增加。这项工作的潜在影响将是确定离散行为出现背后的因果机制，这在哺乳动物或青春期从未完成过。数据管理计划涉及使用电子实验室笔记本，由LabArchives LLC管理，允许所有记录的永久异地存储，无论其格式如何。研究结果公布后，与本计划有关的所有数据将向公众公布。为了最大限度地扩大这项工作的影响，教学将与研究相结合，通过开发一门关于发展行为神经科学的课程，比较两种教学方法的效果，并将我们的发现提交给科学教育期刊。最后，pi将参加NET/Work计划，该计划是为有才华的本科生提供的为期两年的带薪实习，使他们能够在大学实验室获得实践研究经验。作为佐治亚州大学系统中种族最多样化的机构，NET/Work招收有才华的少数族裔学生，并为他们提供进入神经科学的机会。

Puberty is a phase of life marked by dramatic behavioral change. During puberty, the reproductive axis matures causing gonadal steroid levels to rise well beyond what is normally seen in adulthood. Because of the profound emotional, cognitive, and social changes that occur during puberty, gonadal hormones must profoundly affect brain connectivity and function. What that impact is, however, is largely unknown. In this project, behavioral observation, electrophysiology, and neuropharmacology in rats will be used to identify the neural mechanisms that underlie the pubertal emergence of a discrete behavioral disposition: The attraction to the odors of the opposite sex. It is expected that testosterone will cause a specific excitatory synaptic connection within a brain region termed the amygdala to undergo long-term potentiation, i.e., an increase in synaptic efficacy. The potential impact of this work will be to identify the causal mechanisms that underlie the emergence of a discrete behavior, which has never before been accomplished in mammals or during puberty. The Data Management Plan involves the use of an electronic laboratory notebook, managed by LabArchives LLC, which permits the permanent off-site storage of all records, regardless of their format. Upon publication of the results, all data produced in conjunction with this project will be available to the public. To maximize the broader impacts of this work, teaching will be integrated with research by developing a course on Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience, comparing the efficacy of two teaching methods, and submitting our findings to a science education journal. Finally, the PIs will participate in the NET/Work program, which is a 2-year paid internship for talented undergraduates that enable them to gain hands-on research experience in University laboratories. Being the most racially diverse institution in Georgia's university system, NET/Work taps talented minority students and provides an entrée for them into Neuroscience.