Vasopressin and the anterior olfactory nucleus

大多数哺乳动物通过嗅觉识别其他个体。有时，这些个体中的一些被赋予了特殊的地位，比如当母亲和后代之间或一夫一妻制物种中的性伴侣之间形成联系时，在这些情况下，嗅觉记忆在嗅球中被锻造。神经肽是一类信使分子，它介导神经元之间的长时间相互作用，在这种记忆的形成中起着非常重要的作用。例如，分娩时母亲大脑中释放的催产素有助于建立后代的嗅觉特征，使其易于记忆。社会依恋的反面是拒绝或攻击那些被认为是入侵者或竞争者的人。为此，另一种神经肽，抗利尿激素，很重要。抗利尿激素参与嗅觉刺激的处理和/或整合，特别是它似乎将社会相关的嗅觉线索与适当的行为反应结合起来。前嗅核是大脑中处理气味信息并将这些信息发送到与行为和记忆有关的大脑区域的关键部分。我们的工作集中在新发现的神经细胞在这个核产生和释放抗利尿激素。这项建议的目的是了解抗利尿激素在社会认知中的作用，以及它如何引发攻击行为的改变；我们将研究抗利尿激素如何影响嗅觉系统，以及它是如何参与形成嗅觉记忆的。在这个提议中，我们将研究嗅觉系统中抗利尿激素神经元的活性如何受到社会相关嗅觉刺激的影响，抗利尿激素如何影响嗅觉系统中的信息处理，以及阻断抗利尿激素在该系统中的作用如何影响社会行为。这些研究都将在老鼠身上进行，并将使用一系列旨在研究社会行为的测试。在老年人中，逐渐增加的社会功能障碍是影响生活质量的一个主要方面。目前还很难判断神经和认知退化对这一现象的贡献，因为我们对社会行为的神经生物学只有零碎的了解。通过对更简单的大鼠系统中社会行为的神经生物学研究，我们期望为理解人类社会行为的神经生物学提供更复杂的理解的基础。其他神经细胞释放许多不同的神经肽，这些神经肽对其他情绪和行为有非常多样化和强大的影响，包括与压力相关的行为和食欲。了解神经肽如何起作用是很重要的，因为模仿它们的药物可能对治疗特定的行为障碍很有价值。

Most mammals recognise other individuals by smell. Sometimes, some of these individuals are accorded a special status, such as when a bond is formed between a mother and offspring or between sexual partners in monogamous species, and in these cases an olfactory memory is forged in the olfactory bulb. Neuropeptides - a class of messenger molecules that mediate prolonged interactions between neurones, play a very important part in the formation of such memories. For example, oxytocin released in the mother's brain during parturition helps to establish the olfactory signatures of the offspring as memorable. The converse of social attachment is rejection of, or aggression towards, individuals who are recognized as intruders or competitors. For this, another neuropeptide, vasopressin, is important. Vasopressin is involved in the processing and/or integration of olfactory stimuli, and in particular it seems to couple socially relevant olfactory cues to an appropriate behavioural response. The anterior olfactory nucleus is the key part of the brain involved in processing odour information and sending that information to brain areas involved with behaviour and memory. Our work is focused on newly discovered nerve cells within this nucleus that make and release vasopressin. The aim of this proposal is to understand vasopressin's role in social recognition and how it can trigger a change in aggressive behaviour; we will study how vasopressin affects the olfactory system and how it is involved in forming olfactory memories there. In this proposal we will be studying how the activity of the vasopressin neurons in the olfactory system is affected by socially relevant olfactory stimuli, how vasopressin influences the processing of information in the olfactory system, and how blocking the actions of vasopressin in this system affects social behaviour. These studies will all be performed in rats, and will use a range of tests devised to study social behaviours.In the elderly, progressively increasing social dysfunction is a major aspect impairing quality of life. At present it is hard to judge the contribution of neural and cognitive degradation to this, as we have only a fragmentary understanding of the neurobiology of social behaviour. By studies of the neurobiology of social behaviour in the simpler system of rats, we expect to contribute to the foundations of an understanding that will inform a more sophisticated understanding of the neurobiology of social behaviour in humans. Other nerve cells release many different neuropeptides, and these have very diverse and powerful effects on other emotions and behaviours, including stress-related behaviours and appetite. Understanding how neuropeptides act is important because drugs that mimic them may be valuable therapeutically for particular behavioural disorders.