Neurobiology of Social Behavior

Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc., Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Studies on aggression represent one of the oldest areas of scientific inquiry; however, we still know very little about the neural mechanisms controlling aggression. Developing a better understanding of these neural mechanisms is critical because aggression plays a fundamental role in the formation and maintenance of stable social relationships in many species. Social experience has profound effects on determining an individual's aggressiveness and to understand the mechanisms controlling aggression we must understand how social experience interacts with neural mechanisms and with naturally occurring fluctuations in hormones that influence aggression. This project will examine how competitive and non-competitive social experience interact with the male hormone testosterone to alter aggressiveness. This project will go on to determine whether social experience and testosterone alter aggressiveness by altering the efficacy of a neurochemical signal called arginine-vasopressin (AVP) to influence aggression by its actions in specific areas of the brain. We believe that the data generated by this project will provide critical new insights into the basic principles that govern how neural and endocrine mechanisms control complex social behaviors. This research project will provide opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs to be trained in basic neurobiological research.