Social conflict is a major source of stress, and perhaps disease, in a variety of species, including humans. The outcome (i.e., whether an individual is a """"""""winner"""""""" or a """"""""loser"""""""") of even a relatively brief exposure to social conflict can produce profound and long-lasting changes in subsequent behavior and physiology. For example, when a Syrian hamster is defeated during a brief encounter in the home cage of a larger, aggressive opponent, the defeated hamster will subsequently fail to display normal territorial aggression in its own home cage even when the intruder is a docile, younger animal. This dramatic, yet easily obtainable, change in social behavior has been called conditioned defeat, and we propose that it represents an ethologically relevant and valuable addition to current animal models wherein behavioral responses related to stress, fear and anxiety are studied. The long term goal of this project is to define the neural events that trigger the profound changes in behavior that occur during conditioned defeat. There are currently no published data on the neural elements that regulate conditioned defeat. We propose that the basolateral amygdala, central nucleus of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) are critical for the acquisition and expression of conditioned defeat. This hypothesis was developed from several converging lines of evidence from studies on the neurobiology of defensive/submissive behaviors and of fear, as well as from strong preliminary data generated in our laboratory. The proposed studies will not only provide the first information on the anatomical sites mediating conditioned defeat, but they will also provide initial information on the neurochemical signals involved.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01MH062044-01A1
Application #
6436241
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-2 (01))
Program Officer
Kitt, Cheryl A
Project Start
2001-12-01
Project End
2005-11-30
Budget Start
2001-12-01
Budget End
2002-11-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$245,621
Indirect Cost
Name
Georgia State University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
837322494
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30302
McCann, Katharine E; Sinkiewicz, David M; Rosenhauer, Anna M et al. (2018) Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Sex-Dependent Expression Patterns in the Basolateral Amygdala of Dominant and Subordinate Animals After Acute Social Conflict. Mol Neurobiol :
Partrick, Katherine A; Chassaing, Benoit; Beach, Linda Q et al. (2018) Acute and repeated exposure to social stress reduces gut microbiota diversity in Syrian hamsters. Behav Brain Res 345:39-48
Ross, Amy P; Norvelle, Alisa; Choi, Dennis C et al. (2017) Social housing and social isolation: Impact on stress indices and energy balance in male and female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Physiol Behav 177:264-269
McCann, Katharine E; Rosenhauer, Anna M; Jones, Genna M F et al. (2017) Histone deacetylase and acetyltransferase inhibitors modulate behavioral responses to social stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 75:100-109
Rosenhauer, Anna M; McCann, Katharine E; Norvelle, Alisa et al. (2017) An acute social defeat stressor in early puberty increases susceptibility to social defeat in adulthood. Horm Behav 93:31-38
McCann, Katharine E; Sinkiewicz, David M; Norvelle, Alisa et al. (2017) De novo assembly, annotation, and characterization of the whole brain transcriptome of male and female Syrian hamsters. Sci Rep 7:40472
Gray, C L; Norvelle, A; Larkin, T et al. (2015) Dopamine in the nucleus accumbens modulates the memory of social defeat in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Behav Brain Res 286:22-8
Gray, Cloe Luckett; Krebs-Kraft, Desiree L; Solomon, Matia B et al. (2015) Immediate post-defeat infusions of the noradrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol impair the consolidation of conditioned defeat in male Syrian hamsters. Physiol Behav 152:56-61
McCann, Katharine E; Bicknese, Corinne N; Norvelle, Alisa et al. (2014) Effects of inescapable versus escapable social stress in Syrian hamsters: the importance of stressor duration versus escapability. Physiol Behav 129:25-9
Song, Zhimin; McCann, Katharine E; McNeill 4th, John K et al. (2014) Oxytocin induces social communication by activating arginine-vasopressin V1a receptors and not oxytocin receptors. Psychoneuroendocrinology 50:14-9

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