Project description
Exploring hypothalamus adaptability to social challenges
The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) plays a crucial role in behaviours such as social avoidance following defeat, but how past experiences influence its response to social threats remains unclear. Recent studies suggest that social defeat can alter VMH activity, though the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SOCIALPLAST project will investigate synaptic and neuronal plasticity in the ventrolateral part of the VMH (VMHvl) in response to social defeat. The project will examine changes in synaptic transmission and plasticity in mice. If successful, it could uncover how the hypothalamus adapts to social stress and identify new therapeutic targets for psychiatric disorders and broader public health challenges.
Objective
The ability to learn and adapt in response to diverse social experiences is fundamental for animal survival. While key defensive actions against social threats such as flight or fight are innate, previous social experience can guide the selection of the appropriate response to minimize future harm, such as the development of social avoidance following social defeat. The ventromedial hypothalamus is a key brain structure in the innate defensive system, and activity in its ventrolateral part (VMHvl) can mediate both social aggression and escape, yet how previous experience influences hypothalamic social threat processing is not understood. Recent evidence has shown that social defeat can promote functional reorganization of neural activity in this structure, but the mechanisms of such plasticity have not been studied. In this project proposal, I plan to systematically investigate experience-dependent synaptic and neuronal plasticity in the VMHvl. First, I will use state-of-the-art in vitro electrophysiological techniques in mice to comprehensively explore changes in synaptic transmission in this region following social defeat. Second, I will leverage a recently developed calcium imaging method combined with optogenetics to follow and manipulate synaptic plasticity in the freely behaving mouse. Together with ethological behavior quantification techniques, this approach will allow me to identify and causally test the in vivo functional consequences of defeat-induced plasticity in the VMHvl. If successful, this project will provide novel insights into the synaptic and circuit basis of hypothalamic adaptations to social defeat. Gaining a mechanistic and physiological understanding of neuroadaptations following social experiences will offer new targets for therapeutic manipulation of maladaptive responses to social adversity that underlie many psychiatric disorders and pose a significant public health challenge.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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69117 Heidelberg
Germany
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