Description du projet
Remonter aux origines de l’individualité comportementale
Le débat sur «l’inné et l’acquis» a dominé notre compréhension de la variation comportementale individuelle. Est-ce l’hétérogénéité génétique ou les différences d’expositions environnementales qui forment la base du comportement individuel? Des études récentes ont montré qu’une variation comportementale stable est observée chez des individus isogéniques élevés dans le même environnement. Le projet BehavIndividuality, financé par l’UE, mettra en lumière de nouveaux processus qui établissent et maintiennent la diversité interindividuelle dans les schémas neuronaux et comportementaux. Il identifiera les circuits neuronaux et les variations qui conduisent à différents états de comportement. Il étudiera en outre le rôle des mécanismes épigénétiques conservés dans la génération de variations neuronales et comportementales stables en intégrant l’expression génique à haut débit ainsi que des analyses neuronales et comportementales chez des animaux isolés. Le projet étudiera également comment les conditions stressantes affectent l’individualité comportementale.
Objectif
A fundamental question in biology is why different individuals show different behaviors. While individuality in behavior is usually explained by genetic heterogeneity or differences in environmental exposures, more recent studies have shown that stable behavioral variation is also observed among isogenic individuals that were raised in the same environment. However, this important and potentially conserved epigenetic source of individual-to-individual behavioral variation remains largely unexplored. I have recently developed a novel imaging setup, using C. elegans, that allowed for the first time to study behavioral individuality across the full development time of animals, at high spatiotemporal resolution and under tightly controlled environmental conditions (Stern et al. Cell 2017). By using this unique system I found that isogenic animals show long-term behavioral individuality that persists across all developmental stages, and was dependent on specific neuromodulators. In this proposal I suggest to study how behavioral individuality emerges across development from non-genetic differences among individuals. In particular, I plan to (i) identify neuronal circuits and variations therein that lead to different behavioral states among individuals by combining my established methods for longitudinal behavioral quantifications with cutting-edge neuronal imaging and molecular techniques; (ii) study the role of conserved epigenetic mechanisms in generating stable neuronal and behavioral variations by integrating high-throughput gene-expression, neuronal, and behavioral analyses in single animals; and (iii) explore how stressful conditions affect behavioral individuality. I hypothesize that stress may enhance variation as a population-level mechanism to diversify risk in the face of complex or unpredictable conditions. The proposed research will shed light on novel processes that establish and maintain inter-individual diversity in neuronal and behavioral patterns.
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Programme(s)
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitution d’accueil
32000 Haifa
Israël