DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Neuromolecular Basis of Cooperative Behavior

合作行为，即个体为了共享利益而共同行动，在整个动物界都很常见。关于合作的研究提供了令人信服的解释，解释了合作为什么以及如何演变；例如，为什么吸血蝙蝠反胃食物来喂饥饿的栖息者，或者为什么土拨鼠冒着生存的危险警告邻居注意捕食者。尽管对合作有了这样的终极理解，但几乎对影响合作行为的生理机制知之甚少，比如涉及哪些基因和大脑区域。此外，不同物种之间的合作机制在多大程度上相似尚不清楚。这项研究将为合作行为背后的机制以及这些机制如何演变提供新的见解。鉴于人类表现出了任何物种中最复杂的合作行为形式，对合作的原因和起源的洞察将提供对人类状况的洞察。动物为什么以及如何合作引起了广大观众的兴趣。因此，这项工作的结果将通过几个公共推广计划进行传达，其中包括一个针对高中生的实习计划。此外，这项研究的合作性质为美国学生和国际学生提供了独特的教育机会，否则他们不会接触到大脑和行为研究的综合和基因组方法。虽然合作行为在动物中广泛存在，其功能和进化也被很好地理解，但合作的神经分子基础还没有得到任何详细的研究。这项研究利用大脑区域特定的转录切分分析，解决了两个基本问题：(1)基因表达模式或基因模块在多大程度上调节合作行为中的个体差异，以及(2)跨物种共享特征的分子收敛程度。鱼类中经过充分研究的清洁剂-客户互惠关系将被用来识别合作行为的神经分子相关性。在这种互惠互利关系中，“清洁工”鱼通过清除鱼类的体外寄生虫和死亡组织来为客户提供服务。具体地说，为了确定与合作及其进化相关的基因模块，将分析野生捕获的清洁工和非清洁工(来自清洁工和非清洁工的物种对，在那里合作是独立进化的)大脑两个区域的转录：杏仁核在情绪处理中的作用，以及海马体在社会认知中的作用。这项创新研究的结果将首次提供对合作的神经分子基础的见解。此外，这项拟议的工作将通过整合终极机制和近端机制来了解行为进化，并将深入了解神经分子机制是约束还是促进行为表型的进化。

Cooperative behavior, where individuals act together for a shared benefit, is common across the animal kingdom. Research on cooperation has provided compelling explanations as to why and how cooperation evolved; for example, why vampire bats regurgitate food to feed hungry roost-mates, or why marmots risk survival to warn neighbors about predators. Despite this ultimate understanding of cooperation, almost nothing is known about the physiological mechanisms influencing cooperative behavior, such as which genes and brain regions are involved. Furthermore, the extent to which the mechanisms underlying cooperation are similar across species is unknown. This research will provide novel insights into the mechanisms underlying cooperative behavior and how these mechanisms evolve. Given that humans exhibit some of the most complex forms of cooperative behavior of any species, insight into the causes and origins of cooperation will offer insight into the human condition. Why and how animals cooperate is of interest to a broad audience. As such, the results of the work will be communicated through several public outreach programs, including an internship program for high school students. In addition, the collaborative nature of this research provides unique educational opportunities to students in the US and to international students who otherwise would not be exposed to integrative and genomic approaches in brain and behavior research. Although cooperative behavior is widespread in animals, and its function and evolution are well understood, the neuromolecular underpinnings of cooperation have not been examined in any detail. Using brain region specific transcriptomic analyses, the proposed research addresses two fundamental questions: (1) the extent to which patterns of gene expression, or gene modules, modulate individual variation in cooperative behavior, and (2) the degree of molecular convergence for shared traits across species. The well-studied cleaner-client mutualism in fishes, where 'cleaner' fish service 'client' fish by removing ectoparasites and dead tissue their mouths, will be used to identify the neuromolecular correlates of cooperative behavior. Specifically, to identify gene modules associated with cooperation, and its evolution, the transcriptomes from two brain regions from wild-caught cleaner wrasses (from species pairs of cleaners and non-cleaners, where cooperation has evolved independently) will be analyzed: the amygdala for its role in emotional processing and the hippocampus for its role in social cognition. The results of this innovative study will provide for the first time insights into the neuromolecular basis of cooperation. Furthermore, the proposed work will inform our understanding of behavioral evolution by integrating both ultimate and proximate mechanisms, and will provide insight into whether neuromolecular mechanisms constrain or facilitate the evolution of behavioral phenotypes.