ADOLESCENCE: A SENSITIVE PERIOD FOR SHAPING THE ADULT SOCIAL BRAIN

众所周知，生命早期环境经历对塑造大脑发育和功能的重要性。相比之下，很少有人关注青少年时期，这是一个大脑持续发育的时期，在社会行为和生理的许多方面，这段时间的生活与成年期不同。我在老鼠身上的研究表明，青春期的社会关系通过操纵社会经验（社会不稳定）塑造成年期的社会行为，而这种社会经验似乎对成年期的行为没有持久的影响。在这项资助中，我们建议调查社会不稳定引起的青少年社会行为变化的神经基础。目标1解决了缺乏关于女性社会发展的规范性数据，以及两性在青春期对奖励的敏感性是如何发展的。目的2研究青少年社会不稳定对两性社会行为的影响机制，重点关注神经肽、糖皮质激素、激素和内源性大麻素信号的作用。目的3探讨青少年时期下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴受下丘脑-垂体-性腺轴调节的规范性变化及其在社会发展中的作用。我的研究项目的实验是解决我们对青春期生活的认识差距的重要步骤，这将有助于理解构建社会大脑的发育机制和社会经验。此外，该研究项目将为本科生和研究生提供优秀的研究培训和可转移技能。

The importance of environmental experiences in the early years of life in shaping brain development and function is well known. In comparison, there has been little focus on the adolescent period, a period in which there is ongoing brain development, and a time of life that is different from adulthood in terms of social behaviour and many aspects of physiology. My research has shown in rats that social relationships in adolescence shape social behaviour in adulthood, using a manipulation of social experiences (social instability) that seems to have no lasting effect on behaviour when experienced in adulthood. In this grant, we propose to investigate the neural underpinnings of the social instability-induced changes in social behaviour of adolescents. Objective 1 addresses the lack of normative data on social development in females and how sensitivity to reward develops across adolescence in both sexes. Objective 2 investigates the mechanisms for the effects of adolescent social instability on social behaviour in both sexes, focussing on the role of neuropeptides, glucocorticoid, hormones, and endocannabinoid signalling. Objective 3 investigates normative changes in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis during adolescence, and the role of such changes for social development. The experiments of my research program are important steps in addressing gaps in our knowledge of the adolescent period of life, which will contribute to the understanding the developmental mechanisms and social experiences that build the social brain. Further, the research program will provide excellent research training and transferrable skills for undergrad and graduate students.