NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: The effect of fatherhood on behavioral and neural responsiveness to offspring sensory cues

这项行动资助了2019财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。这项研究将是有价值的，更好地了解男性在照顾后代的物种中，男性和女性照顾年轻的作用。很少有研究已经进行了父亲的照顾，相对于母亲的照顾，和许多关于父亲的照顾的研究进行的物种中，只有女性照顾年轻的，很难衡量其生态相关性。在分娩之前、期间和之后，女性会经历神经和荷尔蒙的变化，这增加了对母亲的照顾，部分原因是增加了对新生儿感官刺激的吸引力。该研究员将通过评估新父亲对新生儿感官线索的反应，并探索听觉和嗅觉线索对引发父亲护理的相对重要性，来研究新父亲是否会出现类似的模式。这项工作可以提供洞察父母照顾的正常表达，以及相反，适应不良的亲子互动。研究结果还可以帮助改善关键种群的保护工作。由于人类活动会干扰许多濒危物种的声音和嗅觉交流，它们也可能干扰父母的行为。这项研究将为研究员提供宝贵的培训，并支持努力提高科学领域代表性不足的少数群体的参与和职业持续性。该研究员将检验一夫一妻制、双亲加州小鼠（Peromyscus californicus）的父亲照顾的开始与幼崽对嗅觉和听觉刺激的吸引力增加和神经反应改变有关的假设。为了验证这一假设，将比较未交配的雄性、准父亲和新父亲的行为和神经反应。首先，将量化雄性对幼鼠气味和/或发声的反应。将通过测量即刻早期基因产物Fos的表达来测量与嗅觉、听觉、父母行为、奖励和/或恐惧相关的脑区域中的神经活动。最后，将检查雄性对幼鼠刺激的行为和神经反应的激素控制。通过这项研究，研究员将学习行为神经内分泌学的技术，并将通过旨在为代表性不足的少数民族提供研究培训的计划积极招募本科生助理，从而为至少9名本科生提供指导。这项研究还将用于生成开放获取的、基于应用程序的课程，以提高科学素养。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. This research will be valuable for better understanding the role of males in caring for offspring in species in which both males and females care for young. Few studies have been conducted on paternal care, relative to maternal care, and many of the studies on paternal care were conducted in species in which only females care for young, making it difficult to gauge their ecological relevance. Before, during, and after giving birth, females undergo neural and hormonal changes that increase maternal care, in part by increasing attraction to sensory stimuli from newborns. The fellow will examine whether similar patterns occur in new fathers by assessing their responsiveness to newborn sensory cues and exploring the relative importance of acoustic and olfactory cues for eliciting paternal care. This work could provide insights into the normal expression of parental care as well as, conversely, maladaptive parent-offspring interactions. Findings can also help improve conservation efforts for critical populations. Because human activities can interfere with acoustic and olfactory communication in many endangered species, they may also interfere with parental behaviors. This research will provide valuable training for the fellow, and support efforts to increase the participation and career persistence of underrepresented minorities in science. The fellow will test the hypothesis that the onset of paternal care in the monogamous, biparental California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) will be associated with increased attraction and altered neural responses to olfactory and auditory stimuli from pups. To test this hypothesis, the behaviors and neural responses of un-mated males, expectant fathers and new fathers will be compared. First, males behavior in response to pup odors and/or vocalizations will be quantified. Neural activity will be measured in brain regions associated with olfaction, audition, parental behavior, reward and/or fear by measuring the expression of an immediate-early gene product, Fos. Lastly, the hormonal control of behavioral and neural responses to pup stimuli in males will be examined. Through this research, the fellow will learn techniques in behavioral neuroendocrinology and will actively recruit undergraduate assistants through programs aimed at providing research training to underrepresented minorities, resulting in mentorship of at least nine undergraduates. This research will also be used to generate open-access, app-based lessons to improve science literacy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.