Training in translational social neuroscience

描述(由申请者提供)：应聘者：我在耶克斯国家灵长类中心和埃默里大学进行了10多年的竞争性独立研究项目，专注于比较社会认知，特别是猴子和猿类如何处理关于面部身份和情绪的信息。人脸识别是人类的一项重要技能，它的缺陷是许多神经发育和神经病理疾病的常见表型，如自闭症。正因为如此，我开始有兴趣探索这项研究的翻译应用的可能性，将猴子的基础研究与临床前研究联系起来。随着埃默里新成立的翻译社会神经科学中心以及亚特兰大马库斯自闭症中心聘请阿米·克林博士担任自闭症研究主任，我觉得这是寻求新培训的理想时机，这将促进我在翻译社会神经科学和自闭症研究方面的职业发展机会。因此，这个职业发展奖旨在通过提供以自闭症临床研究培训和亲社会行为神经药理学培训为重点的翻译社会神经科学培训，拓宽我在社会认知基础研究方面的坚实背景。环境：培训将通过与埃默里大学、耶克斯国家灵长类动物研究中心、埃默里翻译社会神经科学中心和马库斯自闭症中心的同事合作实现。每个中心都位于埃默里大学主校区一英里的范围内，以卓越的科学和学术享誉世界，并将在基础设施和职业发展机会方面提供无与伦比的支持。该奖项的短期目标有三个方面。第一个目标是获得神经肽系统和基本神经药理学研究方法方面的重要培训。这将通过与翻译社会神经科学中心和行为神经科学和精神障碍部门主任拉里·杨博士的互动来实现。这将包括如何确定给灵长类动物注射催产素的药物剂量和给药方法的培训。我将利用这一知识来研究神经肽催产素是否可以调节猴子在社会认知任务中的表现。此外，我将与神经药理学和神经疾病科主任伦纳德·豪厄尔博士和耶克斯成像中心合作，学习几种基本的神经外科准备和给药程序，这些程序通常用于研究猴子行为的神经药理学基础。第二个目标是利用自闭症的翻译研究方法获得临床经验。为了做到这一点，我将与马库斯自闭症中心自闭症研究主任阿米·克林博士合作。克林博士的实验室率先使用强大的、数据驱动的眼球跟踪方法来研究自闭症患者的视觉社交参与。使用这些方法，克林博士和他的团队已经确定了婴儿早在6个月大时就患上自闭症的风险因素。然后，我将实施这些方法来研究猴子的视觉社交参与，提供一个动手机会，将这种翻译研究方法应用到我目前资助的研究中。最终目标是通过与马库斯医学主任罗伊·桑德斯博士和克林博士的互动，观察患有自闭症的儿童，了解早期干预计划，并协助研究研究，从而获得自闭症的临床培训。研究：拟议的研究具有战略性地建立在我在比较社会认知方面的专业知识的基础上，同时为这些新领域的实践培训提供机会。培训目标1将调查催产素是否能够影响猴子在当前R01任务(目标1、2和4)中的表现，包括人脸识别、面部表情识别和社会关注。培训目标2是将用于研究有自闭症风险的婴儿的视觉社交参与的客观、数据驱动的眼球跟踪方法应用于猴子社交知觉的研究。这将加强当前R01目标1中采取的方法，即在灵长类社会认知研究中使用眼球跟踪来比较观看偏好与操作程序的有效性，因为它将建立这种翻译方法在 猴子。我的长期目标是开发一个竞争性研究项目，将比较社会神经科学和翻译社会神经科学联系起来，以了解社会认知的基本行为和神经生物学，重点是开发治疗社会缺陷的动物模型。该奖项中提出的新目标将提供实践机会，以应用新培训的方式，不仅将提高我目前的R01的结果，而且提供必要的经验，以实现我的长期职业发展目标。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Candidate: I have had a competitive, independent research program at the Yerkes National Primate Center and Emory University for over 10 years focusing on comparative social cognition, specifically how monkeys and apes process information about identity and emotion from faces. Face recognition is an important skill in humans and its deficits are a common phenotype in numerous neurodevelopmental and neuropathological disorders, like autism. Because of this, I have become interested in exploring the possibility for translational applications for this research, bridging basic research in monkey with preclinical studies. With the newly formed Center for Translational Social Neuroscience at Emory and the recruitment of Dr. Ami Klin to serve as Director for Autism Research at the Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta, I feel that this is the ideal time to seek new training that will advance my opportunities for career development in translational social neuroscience and autism research. Therefore, this Career Development Award is designed to broaden my solid background in basic research on social cognition by providing training in translational social neuroscience focused on clinical research training in autism and training in the neuropharmacology of prosocial behavior. Environment: Training will be achieved through collaboration with colleagues at Emory University, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, the Center for Translational Social Neuroscience at Emory, and the Marcus Autism Center. Each of these Centers is located within a mile of Emory's main campus, is world renowned for scientific and academic excellence, and will provide unparalleled support both in terms of infrastructure and opportunities for career development. The short-term goals for this award are threefold. The first goal is to gain important training in neuropeptide systems and basic neuropharmacology research methods. This will come through interactions with Dr. Larry Young, Director for the Center for Translational Social Neuroscience and Division of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatric Disorders. This will include training in how to determine drug doses and delivery methods for administering oxytocin to primates. I will apply this knowledge to investigate whether the neuropeptide oxytocin can modulate monkeys' performance on social cognitive tasks. Additionally, I will work with Dr. Leonard Howell, Director for the Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases and the Yerkes Imaging Center to learn several basic neurosurgical preparations and drug administration procedures that are commonly used to study the neuropharmacological basis of behavior in monkeys. The second goal is to gain clinical experience using translational research methods in autism. To do this, I will work with Dr. Ami Klin, the Director for Autism Research at the Marcus Autism Center. Dr. Klin's laboratory has pioneered the use of robust, data-driven eye- tracking methods for studying visual social engagement in autism. Using these methods, Dr. Klin and his team have identified risk factors for developing autism in infants as early as 6 months of age. I will then implement these methods to study visual social engagement in monkeys, providing a hands-on opportunity to apply this translational research approach to my currently funded studies. The final goal is to gain clinical training in autism through interactions with both Dr. Roy Sanders, Medical Director at Marcus, and Dr. Klin by observing children with ASD, learning about early intervention programs, and assisting with research studies. Research: The proposed research builds strategically on my expertise in comparative social cognition while providing the opportunity for the hands-on training in these new areas. The training Aim 1 will investigate whether oxytocin is able to influence the performance of monkeys on several of the current R01 tasks (Aims 1, 2 and 4), including face recognition, facial expression discrimination and social attention. The training Aim 2 is to apply the objective, data-driven eye-tracking methods used to study visual social engagement in infants at risk for developing autism to studies of monkey social perception. This will strengthen the approach to be taken in the current R01 Aim 1, which is to use eye-tracking to compare the validity of viewing preference compared to operant procedures in studies of primate social cognition, as it will establish this translational method as viable in monkeys. My long-term goal is to develop a competitive research program that bridges comparative and translational social neuroscience to understand the basic behavior and neurobiology of social cognition, with a focus on developing animal models for the treatment of social deficits. The new aims proposed in this award will provide hands-on opportunities to apply the new training in a manner that will not only enhance the outcome of my current R01, but provide the experience necessary to achieve my long-term goals for career development.