Stress and flexibility in serotonin signalling

这个NSERC的研究计划将调查的细胞机制和行为后果的压力引起的可塑性在大脑神经递质信号。我们将探讨控制中缝核中5-羟色胺神经元兴奋性的机制，以及它们对大脑皮层产生影响的机制。我们还将研究皮质5-羟色胺的释放如何影响复杂认知任务的表现。5-羟色胺在认知和情绪反应中起着关键作用，因此我们的目标是了解其细胞和电路机制以及它们在不同发育时间点对压力影响的敏感性。该基金的重点是5-羟色胺信号传导的灵活性，这种灵活性如何被发育压力改变，以及对认知行为的影响。从广义上讲，我的实验室研究神经调节的细胞机制，使用啮齿动物模型，电生理工具，光遗传学，多光子成像，行为和分子测定。对于这项资助，我们将从多巴胺能神经元本身开始，并询问信号通路，这些信号通路提供了灵活性，可以在行为相关的时间框架上以不同的放电模式做出反应。这项工作自然地进入了我们实验室正在进行的NSERC研究，研究暴露于长期社会隔离的小鼠是否显示大脑皮层中5-羟色胺受体电生理信号的变化，并确定相关的潜在受体和通道效应器。最后，我们将使用体内光遗传学研究皮质5-羟色胺在急性压力或情绪条件下干扰复杂注意力任务表现的作用。NSERC的这项研究计划将培养学生和博士后尖端神经科学技术，并将促进我们对调节5-羟色胺系统的细胞机制的理解。综合实验汇集了中缝和皮层的机制研究，以更充分地了解固有的灵活性，在神经元的信号和持久的发展扰动的后果。我们的行为工作旨在阐明血清素的细胞和回路效应及其对认知的影响之间的关系。总的来说，这个NSERC计划将探索我们的个人历史在多大程度上塑造了血清素调节我们的神经回路和行为的能力。

This NSERC research program will investigate the cellular mechanisms and behavioural consequences of stress-elicited plasticity in brain serotonergic signalling. We will probe the mechanisms that control the excitability of serotonin neurons in the raphe nuclei and those by which they exert their influence in the cerebral cortex. We will also examine how cortical serotonin release affects the performance of complex cognitive tasks. Serotonin plays key roles in cognitive and emotional responses, so we aim to understand its cell and circuit mechanisms and their sensitivity to the effects of stress at different developmental time points.Key foci of this grant are the flexibility of serotonin signalling, how this flexibility is altered by developmental stress, and implications for cognitive behaviour. Broadly, my laboratory investigates the cellular mechanisms of neuromodulation using rodent models, electrophysiological tools, optogenetics, multiphoton imaging, and behavioural and molecular assays. For this grant, we will start with the serotonergic neurons themselves and interrogate the signalling pathways that provide flexibility to respond with different firing patterns on behaviourally-relevant time frames. This work segues naturally into ongoing NSERC research in our lab examining whether mice exposed to prolonged social isolation show changes in serotonin receptor electrophysiological signalling in cerebral cortex and identifying the underlying receptors and channel effectors involved. Finally, we will investigate using in vivo optogenetics the role of cortical serotonin in disrupting performance on a complex attention task under acutely stressful or emotional conditions.This program of NSERC research will train students and postdocs in cutting-edge neuroscience techniques and will advance our understanding of the cellular mechanisms that regulate the serotonin system. The integrated experiments bring together mechanistic studies in the raphe and cortex to understand more fully the flexibility inherent in the serotonergic signalling and the lasting consequences of developmental perturbations. Our behavioural work aims to elucidate the relationship between the cellular and circuit effects of serotonin and its consequences for cognition. Overall, this NSERC program will probe the extent to which our personal history shapes the ability of serotonin to modulate our neural circuitry and behaviour.