Cellular mechanisms and behavioral impacts of experience-dependent inhibitory plasticity in the accessory olfactory bulb

项目总结/摘要 哺乳动物严重依赖嗅觉系统来生存和繁殖。辅助嗅觉系统 (AOS)，最有名的是它在信息素处理的作用，是一个专门的系统，用于检测非挥发性 社会化学信号这种社会化学信号被认为有助于识别同种和异种， 也传达了其他动物生理状态的信息。有趣的是， 灯泡（AOB）是AOS中第一个也是唯一一个专用电路，已被证明可以改变其处理社交信息的方式。 体验后的刺激然而，经验诱导这种可塑性的机制并不清楚 明白这个项目的总体目标是更好地理解经验如何塑造神经回路。 拟议的研究将利用电生理学首先确定中间神经元的生理变化 由重复的经验引起的。此外，单细胞RNA测序将用于鉴定活性- 基因表达的依赖性变化。最后，将使用化学遗传学策略来操纵 中间神经元群体经历可塑性，以确定它们是否在行为输出中发挥直接作用。通过 确定AOB中间神经元的生理和基因表达的变化，并确定它们的行为 经过反复的社会经验，这项工作将有助于确定参与中央机制 化学感受信息的处理，并确定中间神经元对哺乳动物社会的贡献 行为

Project Summary/Abstract Mammals rely heavily on their olfactory systems for survival and reproduction. The accessory olfactory system (AOS), best known for its role in pheromone processing, is a dedicated system for the detection of non-volatile social chemosignals. Such social chemosignals are thought to help identify conspecifics and heterospecifics, as well as convey information about the physiological state of other animals. Interestingly, the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), the first and only dedicated circuit in the AOS, has been shown to change how it processes social stimuli after experience. However, the mechanisms by which experience induces this plasticity are not well understood. The overall goal of this project is to better understand how experience can shape neural circuits. The proposed research will utilize electrophysiology to first identify physiological changes in interneurons induced by repeated experience. In addition, single cell RNA sequencing will be used to identify activity- dependent changes in gene expression. Finally, chemogenetic strategies will be used to manipulate the interneuron populations that undergo plasticity to determine if they play a direct role in behavioral output. By identifying changes in the physiology and gene expression of AOB interneurons, and determining their behavioral role after repeated social experience, this work will help identify the mechanisms involved in the central processing of chemosensory information and determine the contributions of interneurons to mammalian social behavior.