Robustness and plasticity are two fundamental properties of living organisms required to sustain their ability to adapt to the changing environment. The brain contains a complex neural network enabling individuals to make rapid as well as sustained adjustments to their behavior and physiological functions to cope with unexpected stresses such as overcrowding, temperature changes, and food shortages. This neural network is a set of anatomical structures interconnected by signaling molecules that is termed the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This network regulates responses to stress and plays a fundamental role in adaptation in all vertebrates. Within this network, the neurohormone vasotocin has a wide range of physiological and behavioral effects in all sub-mammalian vertebrate classes. The planned studies have three goals. First, the collaborative team will determine how various cellular and molecular components of the vasotocin system interact during stress. Second, they will characterize the changes in these interactions when an acute stress exposure instead becomes a chronic one. Third, the structural and molecular basis for concerted effects of vasotocin and another neurohormone, corticotrophin-releasing hormone, on an animal's adaptation to stress will be examined. The proposed activity is a joint effort of two very different educational institutions, a land grant university with a major agricultural focus and an academic health sciences center, both located in Arkansas where fewer training opportunities in neuroscience exist. The successful collaboration will demonstrate to students, who will be trained and introduced to a number of up-to-date techniques, the importance of networking between diverse academic cultures to advance knowledge and build unique scientific careers.
