Authors: Nicholas Poll
Mentors: Moriel Zelikowsky
Insitution: University of Utah
Social interaction is one of the chief drivers of evolution and natural selection. Animal interactions shape the ecological world and have shaped the world’s evolutionary timeline. Of the many types of animal interactions, one of the most influential to behavior and development is aggression. Many animals' aggressive behaviors and mechanisms are so distinct that their origins can be traced back to specific selective pressures. These pressures range from reproductive competition to predator-prey interactions and have apparent effects on many species’ developments. There are many stressors that can increase aggressive tendencies found in mammals, yet it’s clear that the neural bases that connect these stressors and their behavioral responses are understudied.
The targeted brain region in this project is the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). The BNST is a neurochemically diverse node of the extended amygdala that has been implicated in mediating stress and sensory information. It anatomically acts as a relay station between a number of different structures including the hypothalamus and amygdala. The BNST has been implicated to have a role in stressor-induced aggressive behaviors; however, the neural mechanisms that connect this region and these behaviors are relatively understudied.
Corticotropin-releasing Hormone (CRH) in mammals displays upregulation following the introduction of a stressor and has been found to mediate aggression and anxiety. Similarly, tachykinin-expressing neurons have been shown to have a role in mediating aggression in mammals. While CRH and tachykinin’s link to anxiety and aggression is well supported, it is not clear to what extent it has on BNST. This project aims to provide data to support the role that CRH and Tachykinin 2 (Tac2) in the BNST have in mediating aggression in mice through optogenetic stimulation.