We propose a continuation and extension of studies designed to analyze the neurobiological basis of social behavior in macaque monkeys. The overarching goal of this program is to determine which neural systems are specialized to process socially relevant information and to guide social behavior. During the first four years of this program, we established the physical and personnel infrastructure to examine the effects of brain manipulations on conspecific social behavior in adult and infant rhesus monkeys. In particular, we established highly successful protocols of animal husbandry that allow infants, following lesions at two weeks of age, to be raised by their biological mothers and to participate in daily socialization that insures normal socioemotional development. Contrary to our initial hypothesis, investigations conducted thus far indicate that the amygdala is not essential for normal social behavior in the adult, and is not necessary for gaining social knowledge during development. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the amygdala is a danger detector. It functions, in part, to evaluate objects and organisms in the environment as potential threats and then marshals an appropriate response. Interestingly, lesions of infant subjects produce greater social fear despite the absence of the amygdala and the lack of fear of objects! In the next funding period, we propose to follow the further development of socioemotional, sexual and maternal behavior of the 16 monkeys that received lesions of the amygdala or hippocampus at two weeks of age. We also propose to use high-resolution positron emission tomography (microPET) to evaluate brain plasticity resulting from the early lesions and to search for the neural substrates of the abnormal social fear that we observe in infant monkeys with amygdala lesions. We will also introduce a new genetic method, using viral transfection of the amygdala with the gene for the Drosophila allatostatin receptor, for producing selective and reversible inactivation of the amygdala in freely behaving monkeys. Finally, we will study adult animals with lesions of the orbitofrontal or medial dorsal frontal cortex in an attempt to define the neural network associated with normal social behavior. While these studies are designed to investigate the neural networks for normal socioemotional cognition, we believe that our findings will have important implications for disorders such as autism, social phobia and anxiety.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award (R37)
Project #
5R37MH057502-10
Application #
7269421
Study Section
Biobehavioral and Behavioral Processes 3 (BBBP)
Program Officer
Simmons, Janine M
Project Start
1998-08-08
Project End
2008-05-31
Budget Start
2007-06-01
Budget End
2008-05-31
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$591,795
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Davis
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
047120084
City
Davis
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
95618
Moadab, Gilda; Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Bauman, Melissa D et al. (2017) Early amygdala or hippocampus damage influences adolescent female social behavior during group formation. Behav Neurosci 131:68-82
Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Moadab, Gilda; Santistevan, Anthony et al. (2017) The effects of neonatal amygdala or hippocampus lesions on adult social behavior. Behav Brain Res 322:123-137
Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Moadab, Gilda; Machado, Christopher J (2017) Monkeys preferentially process body information while viewing affective displays. Emotion 17:765-771
Scott, Julia A; Grayson, David; Fletcher, Evan et al. (2016) Longitudinal analysis of the developing rhesus monkey brain using magnetic resonance imaging: birth to adulthood. Brain Struct Funct 221:2847-71
Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Moadab, Gilda (2016) Variation in Behavioral Reactivity Is Associated with Cooperative Restraint Training Efficiency. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci 55:41-9
Moadab, Gilda; Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Amaral, David G (2015) Adult social behavior with familiar partners following neonatal amygdala or hippocampus damage. Behav Neurosci 129:339-50
Hunsaker, Michael R; Scott, Julia A; Bauman, Melissa D et al. (2014) Postnatal development of the hippocampus in the Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta): a longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study. Hippocampus 24:794-807
Hunsaker, Michael R; Amaral, David G (2014) A semi-automated pipeline for the segmentation of rhesus macaque hippocampus: validation across a wide age range. PLoS One 9:e89456
Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Machado, Christopher J; Amaral, David G (2013) Macaque cardiac physiology is sensitive to the valence of passively viewed sensory stimuli. PLoS One 8:e71170
Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Moadab, Gilda; Bauman, Melissa D et al. (2013) The impact of early amygdala damage on juvenile rhesus macaque social behavior. J Cogn Neurosci 25:2124-40

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