(Behavioral and Cognitive Core) Metabolic disorders, including diabetes, are characterized by abnormalities in circulating substrates (glucose, lipids) as well as their causes and consequences vis--vis peripheral tissues including the endocrine pancreas, liver, adipose tissue, and others. While this peripheral focus has been vital for developing current therapeutic approaches, recent years have seen a steady progression in understanding the importance of the central nervous system (CNS) in terms of receiving signals from these peripheral organs, integrating them with circulating nutrients and diverse non-homeostatic factors, and then coordinating activity among diverse systems to optimally control glycemia and other parameters. An important component of this activity is the CNS control of behavior. Recognizing the importance of the interplay between the CNS and peripheral metabolism, NIDDK modified the RFP for the current round of MMPC applications by explicitly naming behavioral assays as key phenotypic endpoints to be offered. This innovation is timely and nicely fits with a successful internal behavioral core that has historically served UC's MDI and Obesity Research Center. Although this internal core wasn't explicitly advertised, investigators in other institutions and industry learned of it and utilized it on a limited basis; however, we have been unable to make these services widely available to non-UC investigators due to funding limitations. We are proposing that this already-existing core become an official Behavior and Cognitive Core of the UC-MMPC, thereby making its services and considerable behavioral expertise broadly available to non-UC investigators. By doing so, we are also taking advantage of the extremely well-established MMPC core structure and its mechanism for the retrieval of service fees. There are four broad, long-range aims of this Core:
Specific Aim 1 : To provide sophisticated state-of-the-art behavioral assays that allow investigators to better characterize mouse models of metabolic disorders.
Specific Aim 2 : To advise investigators on the most appropriate behavioral tests, as well as the optimal sequence to be used when performing different assays.
Specific Aim 3 : To train investigators in the execution and analysis of specialized behavioral procedures established and routinely practiced in the Core.
Specific Aim 4 : To continuously improve current paradigms and develop new ones, including methods to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of behavioral assessments in mice.
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