Descrizione del progetto
Svelare l’attività cerebrale durante l’interazione sociale
Le specie sociali come gli esseri umani e altri primati percepiscono e interpretano i vari stimoli ambientali e sociali che permettono loro di prendere le decisioni necessarie. Tuttavia, poco si sa sui meccanismi alla base di questi processi e sul modo in cui il cervello attiva queste rappresentazioni interne. Il progetto AMYGDALA-ELECTROPHYS, finanziato dall’UE, condurrà registrazioni neuronali nei ratti per studiare l’attività nel complesso dell’amigdala basolaterale durante l’interazione sociale. Decodificando questa attività, i ricercatori determineranno e capiranno i fattori (come il genere e l’età) che guidano i calcoli neuronali nel complesso dell’amigdala basolaterale e quindi il comportamento sociale.
Obiettivo
The accurate perception and interpretation of social stimuli is crucial for survival in social species including rodents, primates and humans. Before deciding whether to mate, fight or avoid, an animal must process multisensory cues to activate an internal representation of the social environment that answers key questions (Sex? Age? Friend? Foe? Previously encountered?). Little is known about how the brain develops and activates this representation. We will focus on the role of neuronal firing in the basolateral amygdala complex (BLA) in processing and integrating social cues.
In the first stage of this research, we will use neuropixel silicon probes to conduct large-scale recordings of the BLA in rats during social interaction with conspecifics (juvenile rats, male rats and female rats). We can record from large populations of neurons across weeks in freely-moving rats during social interaction. Second, by analysing the activity of single neurons in the BLA, we can characterize the specificity and responsivity of single neurons to social interaction and understand the mitigating factors (gender of conspecific, sexual receptivity, age, previous history). Third, we can decode the population activity of the BLA during social activity to understand how BLA connectivity changes during social interaction and with experience. Finally, we will use optical tagging of anatomically-defined ensembles of BLA neurons to understand how BLA projections code for specific properties of social activity. Success in this project will provide an understanding of how neural computation occurs within the BLA.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinatore
WC1E 6BT London
Regno Unito