Dissertation Research: Effects of mating on behavioral and neuronal stress response in male and female rats

交配是一种社会回报的经历，它可能对健康和健身产生保护作用，并在许多哺乳动物和非哺乳动物物种中缓冲压力的有害影响。然而，人们对这些影响背后的神经生物学机制知之甚少，包括女性受试者在内的研究也极其有限。使用雄性和雌性啮齿动物模型，研究人员将利用行为、细胞和神经化学研究的组合来更好地了解交配史对压力相关系统的影响。体内神经化学研究还将允许收集和分析在交配和应激遭遇期间清醒和行为正常的动物的神经递质释放。交配史预计会通过大脑中不同于男性和女性的区域的神经化学变化来抑制应激反应，男性和女性之间可能会观察到差异。交配在减少焦虑、缓解压力和带来回报方面的进化优势可能是增加了动物探索新环境寻找交配伴侣的意愿，从而促进了繁殖并最终传递了它的基因。这项研究将推动更广泛的科学领域的发展，包括我们对男性和女性之间的差异以及调节压力和生殖的行为和神经生物学系统的相似之处，以及这些系统如何相互作用的理解。此外，它还将对一些在本实验室接受神经科学研究培训的本科生产生更广泛的影响。这些学生目前包括传统上在科学界代表性较低的群体的成员。此外，研究人员将通过包括大脑意识周和北佛罗里达大脑蜜蜂在内的外联活动，向K-12年级的学生介绍论文研究和教授基础神经科学，以促进当地社区的科学兴趣。

Mating is a socially rewarding experience that may exert protective benefits to health and fitness and buffers against the deleterious effects of stress across a number of mammalian and non-mammalian species. However, the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie these effects are poorly understood, and studies inclusive of female subjects are extremely limited. Using both male and female rodent models, the investigators will utilize a combination of behavioral, cellular, and neurochemical studies to better understand the impact of mating history on stress-related systems. In-vivo neurochemical studies will also allow for the collection and analysis of neurotransmitter release in awake and behaving animals during mating and a stressful encounter. Mating history is expected to dampen stress reactivity through neurochemical changes in regions of the brain that differ between males and females, and differences may be observed between males and females. The evolutionary advantage for the anxiety-reducing, stress-buffering, and rewarding aspects of mating may be to increase an animal's willingness to explore new environments to search for mating partners, and thus facilitate reproduction and ultimately pass on its genes. This research will advance a broader scientific field that includes our understanding of differences between males and females and similarities in the behavioral and neurobiological systems regulating stress and reproduction and how these systems interact. In addition, it will have a broader impact on a number of undergraduates who are trained in neuroscience research in this lab. These students currently include members of groups traditionally underrepresented in science. Further, the investigators will talk to K-12 students about the dissertation research and teach basic neuroscience through outreach activities including Brain Awareness Week and the North Florida Brain Bee, to promote scientific interest in the local community.