AMYGDALA-ELECTROPHYS · Interrogating Basolateral Amygdala Activity during Social Behaviour at Single-Cell and Population Levels
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-05-01 → 2021-04-30
- EU contribution
- €224,934
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Interrogating Basolateral Amygdala Activity during Social Behaviour at Single-Cell and Population Levels
Accurately processing and integrating the social environment is crucial for the survival of social species including rodents, primates and humans. During this MSCA-IF fellowship titled ‘Interrogating Basolateral Amygdala Activity during Social Behaviour at Single-Cell and Population Levels’, we set out to understand how neurons within basolateral amygdala (BLA) contribute to the representation of social stimuli during naturalistic interactions. Understanding the neural computation within the BLA during social behaviour may provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism, mood disorders and anxiety. To answer these questions, the fellow recorded from hundreds of BLA neurons using neuropixel probes during naturalistic behaviour in the rat. The resulting dataset was analyzed at single-cell and population levels to understand how the BLA represents etiologically relevant behaviour.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
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.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON · LondonCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union