Mentor/s
Dr. Brett DiBenedictis
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
Opposite sex chemosignals ("pheromones") have shown to be critical for the expression of myriad social behaviors in rodents. Pheromones gain access to the brain via the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), and chemosensory information is then sent to downstream limbic sites where these signals are further processed and interpreted, resulting in appropriate social behavior expression. However, the organization of AOB projections to downstream limbic sites involved in social behavior is not well understood. To uncover the organization of AOB mitral projections to social limbic sites, we used adeno-associated viral (AAV) retrograde tract tracing targeting the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), medial amygdala (MeA) and posteromedial cortical amygdala (PMCo), the three primary AOB-recipient sites. By simultaneously infecting neurons with viruses expressing one of two different color reporters (red vs. green) in two AOB-recipient sites, the goal of this study was to determine whether conspecific social signals are distributed widely across the limbic system (high AOB colocalization) or whether there are distinct "sensory channels" for social information (low AOB colocalization), such that individual mitral cells in the AOB target discrete downstream nuclei important for processing social information. We found that both AVVs are highly efficacious retrograde tracers and that on average, 64% of back-labeled mitral cells simultaneously project to multiple downstream targets, significantly more than would be expected by chance. This suggests that the majority of AOB mitral cells simultaneously target multiple social brain centers (dispersed efferent projection pattern), which has important implications for how social signals are processed and therefore how social behaviors are expressed.
College and Major available
Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology BS
Location
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building
Start Day/Time
4-29-2022 1:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-29-2022 4:00 PM
Delineating Accessory Olfactory Bulb Anatomical Projections to Downstream Social Brain Centers in Mice
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building
Opposite sex chemosignals ("pheromones") have shown to be critical for the expression of myriad social behaviors in rodents. Pheromones gain access to the brain via the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), and chemosensory information is then sent to downstream limbic sites where these signals are further processed and interpreted, resulting in appropriate social behavior expression. However, the organization of AOB projections to downstream limbic sites involved in social behavior is not well understood. To uncover the organization of AOB mitral projections to social limbic sites, we used adeno-associated viral (AAV) retrograde tract tracing targeting the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), medial amygdala (MeA) and posteromedial cortical amygdala (PMCo), the three primary AOB-recipient sites. By simultaneously infecting neurons with viruses expressing one of two different color reporters (red vs. green) in two AOB-recipient sites, the goal of this study was to determine whether conspecific social signals are distributed widely across the limbic system (high AOB colocalization) or whether there are distinct "sensory channels" for social information (low AOB colocalization), such that individual mitral cells in the AOB target discrete downstream nuclei important for processing social information. We found that both AVVs are highly efficacious retrograde tracers and that on average, 64% of back-labeled mitral cells simultaneously project to multiple downstream targets, significantly more than would be expected by chance. This suggests that the majority of AOB mitral cells simultaneously target multiple social brain centers (dispersed efferent projection pattern), which has important implications for how social signals are processed and therefore how social behaviors are expressed.
Students' Information
Paige Schroeder - Biology, Honors student, Class of 2023
Brooke Cyr - Neuroscience, Class of 2023
Dayne Rayford - Psychology, Class of 2023