DeVries, Geert IBN 94-21658 The brain employs a host of chemical substances to facilitate communication between cells resident therein. One class of effector molecules are small proteins called neuropeptides and although, the presence of these molecules has been known for sometime, their true function as messenger molecules remains ambiguous. There is virtually no neuropeptide system for which the inputs and outputs are mapped; for which the stimuli that regulate activity are identified; and of which the physiological and behavioral consequences of changes in its activity are known. Dr. DeVries will utilize a unique, well characterized and sexually dimorphic biological system to unravel the role of vasopressin, a neuropeptide, as messenger molecules in the brain. Vasopressin-containing neurons have been implicated in a variety of functions, such as thermo- and osmoregulation, sexual behavior, aggression and memory. Dr. DeVries will characterize the in- and outputs of subsets of vasopressin-containing cells and the response of these subsets of neurons to various stimuli associated with vasopressin-mediated behaviors. In addition, because the vasopressin-containing neurons are sexually dimorphic, the gonadal steroid milieu dictates the activity of the neurons. This feature of these neurons will be employed to examine the role of these neurons in several physiological functions and behaviors in a coordinated manner. These studies will characterize the anatomical and physiological importance of a well-characterized neuropeptide system of the brain. Potentially, this basic information about neuropeptides will enhance our understanding of animal behavior and may facilitate animal husbandry. Additionally, these studies have immense implications in the diagnosis and treatment of human psychopathological disorders where multiple physiological and behaviors are disrupted.
