This K01 proposal is designed to provide training and establish the applicant as an independent researcher in the neurobiological mechanisms of social and emotional behavior development. Her previous research has focused on social and emotional development in a non-human primate model. This training program will provide her with the skills necessary to focus on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these phenomena. This program of research includes an animal model of developmental disorders with social deficits, such as autism, or psychopathological syndromes with social and affective components, such as antisocial personality disorder or schizophrenia. To achieve these goals, the applicant has designed a program with career development activities and research studies under the mentorship of Cort Pedersen, exploring the role of oxytocin in social and emotional behavior and development. The research component of this program includes two goals, both of which utilize archival materials from human and non-human primate brain banks.
Specific Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that the distribution and quantity of oxytocin receptors in limbic structures linked to social behavior will be altered and reduced, respectively, in brains derived from individuals with autism, compared to control tissue.
Specific Aim 2, will test the hypothesis that the distribution and quantity of oxytocin receptors will differ in different primate taxa based on the social behavior and organizational features of the species.
This second aim will provide critical data for the establishment of an animal model of these developmental disorders and psychopathological syndromes. The proposed training program is designed to develop the applicant's expertise in (1) primate neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, (2) neurotransmitter receptor biology, and (3) neurobiological techniques, including immunohistochemistry and autoradiography, and will give her the necessary skills to establish an independent behavioral neurobiology research career. The research outlined here will provide a basis for important new research directions for understanding the role of oxytocin in human social behavior and associated disorders.
| Boccia, M L; Petrusz, P; Suzuki, K et al. (2013) Immunohistochemical localization of oxytocin receptors in human brain. Neuroscience 253:155-64 |
| Boccia, Maria L; Goursaud, Anne-Pierre S; Bachevalier, Jocelyne et al. (2007) Peripherally administered non-peptide oxytocin antagonist, L368,899, accumulates in limbic brain areas: a new pharmacological tool for the study of social motivation in non-human primates. Horm Behav 52:344-51 |
| Boccia, Maria L; Razzoli, Maria; Vadlamudi, Sivaram Prasad et al. (2007) Repeated long separations from pups produce depression-like behavior in rat mothers. Psychoneuroendocrinology 32:65-71 |
