Neuronal plasticity and the evolvability of behavior

所有动物的行为，包括人类，都需要神经系统中的四个组成部分才能成功互动：接受外部刺激的感觉器官，处理感觉刺激的中央通路，协调和计划行为行动的通路，以及执行这些行动的肌肉。我们的团队将研究这四个组成部分是如何随着开发和进化时间范围内的行为变化而保持的。该项目的中心假设是，行为的变化会改变动物接收到的关于该行为的感觉反馈，而这反过来又会改变大脑，从而驱动这四个组成部分之间的协调变化。研究人员将利用弱电鱼类独特的实验优势来检验这一假设，以揭示行为进化和发育变化的基本机制。电鱼是神经科学和行为学公共宣传的极好工具。作为外来动物，它们吸引了广泛的观众。研究人员将扩大正在进行的外展和教育活动，向圣路易斯地区的K-12学生传授假说驱动的科学和大脑可塑性在行为中的重要性。研究人员还将建立一条新的渠道，从哈里斯-斯托州立大学(Harris-Stowe State University)招收学生，从事生物学研究。哈里斯-斯托州立大学是一所历史上的黑人学院和大学。这项研究将在本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员的培养和发展中发挥核心作用。神经系统是一个复杂、多功能、高度集成的系统。行为的进化和发育变化需要对外围器官和多个中央回路进行协调修改，这似乎会对神经系统施加强大的系统发生和发育限制。然而，在相对较短的进化时间跨度内，近亲物种之间的行为可能会出现戏剧性的差异。不同的行为是如何从受限制的大脑进化而来的？该项目的中心假设是，对改变的感觉反馈做出反应的依赖于活动的连接驱动外围器官和中央电路之间的协调变化。研究人员将利用变态弱电鱼类的实验优势来检验这一假设。这些鱼非常适合解决这个具有挑战性的问题，提供了一个无与伦比的机会，可以从根本上洞察依赖活动的可塑性在行为新颖性进化中的作用。研究人员将结合激素治疗和手术操作来确定外周器官和中央回路之间的协调变化是否源于感觉反馈和可塑性。电生理学和神经解剖学将被用来确定导致中央电路变化的潜在机制，并确定这些相同的机制是否导致这些电路的物种差异。研究人员将继续与研究协同并影响K-12学生和教育工作者、本科生和研究生以及博士后研究人员的教育、培训和推广工作。研究人员还将建立一条新的渠道，从哈里斯-斯托州立大学(Harris-Stowe State University)招收学生从事生物研究。哈里斯-斯托州立大学是一所历史上的黑人学院和大学。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Behavior in all animals, including humans, requires four components in nervous systems to successfully interact: sensory organs that receive external stimuli, central pathways that process the sensory stimuli, pathways that coordinate and plan behavioral actions, and muscles that execute those actions. Our team will examine how these four components are sustained as behavior changes during development and evolutionary timescales. The central hypothesis of this project is that changes in behavior alter the sensory feedback an animal receives about that behavior, and this, in turn, modifies the brain in such a way that it drives coordinated changes between each of these four components. The researchers will test this hypothesis by capitalizing on unique experimental advantages of weakly electric fish to reveal fundamental mechanisms underlying evolutionary and developmental change in behavior. Electric fish are excellent tools for public outreach in neuroscience and behavior. As exotic animals, they attract a wide audience. The researchers will expand ongoing outreach and education activities to teach K-12 students in the St. Louis region about hypothesis-driven science and the importance of brain plasticity in behavior. The researchers will also establish a new pipeline to recruit students from Harris-Stowe State University, a Historically Black College and University, into biological research. The proposed research will play a central role in the training and development of undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers.Nervous systems are complex, multifunctional, and highly integrated systems. Evolutionary and developmental change in behavior requires coordinated modifications to peripheral organs and multiple central circuits, which would seem to place strong phylogenetic and developmental constraints on nervous systems. Nevertheless, dramatic differences in behavior can arise between closely related species over relatively short evolutionary timespans. How can diverse behaviors evolve from constrained brains? The central hypothesis of this project is that activity-dependent wiring in response to altered sensory feedback drives coordinated changes between peripheral organs and central circuits. The researchers will test this hypothesis by capitalizing on the experimental advantages of mormyrid weakly electric fishes. These fishes are uniquely suited to addressing this challenging question, providing an unparalleled opportunity to gain fundamental insight into the role of activity-dependent plasticity in the evolution of behavioral novelty. The researchers will use a combination of hormone treatment and surgical manipulation to determine whether coordinated changes between peripheral organs and central circuits result from sensory feedback and plasticity. Electrophysiology and neuroanatomy will be used to identify the mechanisms underlying the resulting changes to central circuits, and to determine whether these same mechanisms are responsible for species differences in these circuits. The researchers will continue educational, training, and outreach efforts that are synergistic with the research and that impact K-12 students and educators, undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers. The researchers will also establish a new pipeline to recruit students from Harris-Stowe State University, a Historically Black College and University, into biological research.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.