NEURAL BASIS OF COMPLEX BEHAVIORS

这是ADAMHA研究科学家发展奖的申请表 （RSDA）我长期以来对行为的神经基础感兴趣， 驱使我追求作为一名神经科学家的学术生涯。我是 我申请这个奖项是因为我正处于职业生涯的关键阶段。我 最近我第一次获得了终身教职。 因此，我的机构义务增加了，我 研究时间更少。但是我现在需要 科学地我需要与他人合作并获得技能，所以 我的研究不受技术能力的限制 此外，我需要与其他教师互动，扩大 我的研究项目我和他人之间会发生互动 生理学系的成员。此外，我将与 Fishberg神经生物学研究中心因此在 近年来，Mt。西奈半岛作出了重大承诺，以研究精神 健康这种兴趣已反映在征聘政策中，例如， 有6名神经科学教师在主要任命 生理学系，9名教师与主要任命 在菲什伯格中心有了这个奖项，我将增加我的互动 与已经形成的完善的神经科学社区在山。 西奈除了促进我自己的科学发展，这个奖项 将使其他与我一起训练的人受益。我的博士后生涯 在一个大型实验室里度过，这个实验室是一个支持性的、协作性的单位。 我在这种环境中繁荣起来，并倾向于通过建立 一个活跃的实验室，包括研究生和博士后。 这个奖，这将减轻我的教学大部分， 行政职责，将使我的 作为科学家的发展。另外，这将使我能够 有时间训练别人。 我研究的长期目标是表征细胞和 赋予生物体适应能力的分子机制 外部环境的变化。即刻的实验将决定 这种软体动物是如何在两种相关的， 明显不同的有节奏的行为我开发了一个模型， 假设从一种行为到另一种行为的转换是由 感觉神经元的阶段性活动。这些感觉神经元同时含有 初级神经递质和调节肽共递质。我的工作 因此，与任何节奏行为的可塑性研究有关 必须适应外部环境的变化 协调的方式。此外，我假设一个新的概念化 初级递质存在的生理意义 和神经元中的共同递质，触发从一种行为到 另这些数据将有助于指导未来的研究， 神经调制在电路选择，并可能提供见解， 当认知过程中发生的神经系统功能障碍 必要的行为的正确选择被扰乱，因为情况是这样的 强迫症和强迫症。因此，这项研究是直接相关的 NIMH的使命。

This is an application for an ADAMHA Research Scientist Development Award (RSDA) My long-standing interest in the neural basis of behavior has driven me to pursue an academic career as a neuroscientist. I am requesting this award because I am at a critical stage in my career. I recently obtained my first appointment as a tenure-track faculty member. Consequently, my institutional obligations have increased, and I have less time for research. I am, however, at a point where I need to develop scientifically. I need to collaborate with others and acquire skills, so that my research will not be limited by my technical abilities. Additionally, I need to interact with other faculty members and broaden my research program. Interactions will occur between myself and other members of the Physiology Department. Additionally, I will interact with members of the Fishberg Center for Neurobiological Research. Thus, in recent years Mt. Sinai has made a major commitment to the study of mental health. This interest has been reflected in recruitment policies; e.g., there are 6 Neuroscience faculty members with primary appointments in the Department of Physiology, and 9 faculty members with primary appointments in the Fishberg Center. With this award I will increase my interactions with the well-established Neuroscience community that has formed at Mt. Sinai. In addition to enhancing my own scientific development, this award will benefit others that will train with me. My postdoctoral years were spent in a large lab that functioned as a supportive, collaborative unit. I prospered in this environment and tend to recreate it, by establishing an active laboratory that includes both graduate students and postdocs. This award, which will relieve me of most of my teaching and administrative obligations, will make a critical difference to my development as a scientist. Additionally, it will enable me to devote time to the training of others. The long term goal of my research is to characterize cellular and molecular mechanisms that endow organisms with the ability to adapt to changes in the external environment. Immediate experiments will determine how the mollusk Aplysia makes a switch between two types of related, but distinctly different, rhythmic behaviors. I have developed a model that postulates that switches from one behavior to the other result from the phasic activity of sensory neurons. These sensory neurons contain both primary neurotransmitters and modulatory peptide cotransmitters. My work is, therefore, relevant to studies of plasticity in any rhythmic behavior that must accommodate changes in the external environment in a coordinated fashion. Additionally, I postulate a novel conceptualization of the physiological significance of the presence of primary transmitters and cotransmitters in neurons triggering switches from one behavior to another. This data will help guide future studies of the role of neuromodulation in circuit selection, and may provide insights into dysfunctions of the nervous system that occur when cognitive processes necessary for the proper choice of behavior are perturbed, as is the case with obsessions and compulsions. Thus, this research is directly relevant to the mission of the NIMH.