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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Anita Autry, Harvard University
Abstract:
Parental care is essential for the survival and well-being of young, though parents or other adults sometimes show neglect or aggressive behavior toward infants. While maternal behavior has been studied extensively, agonistic behavior toward infants remains poorly understood. I will review work in which I participated that combined molecular, optogenetic, and behavioral techniques to understand how galanin neurons in the medial preoptic area control positive aspects of mouse parental behavior. Then I will describe my independent research project which expands on these approaches to uncover how a population of neurons in the perifornical area of hypothalamus (PeFA) expressing neuropeptide urocortin-3 (ucn3) governs agonistic infant-directed behavior. Prior studies have associated ucn3 PeFA neuronal activity with anxiety and stress-related behavior, though this circuit has not previously been to parental behavior. My findings suggest that ucn3 PeFA neurons govern the negative regulation of parental behavior in a physiologically relevant manner. My research goal is to define the anatomy and function of this novel behavioral circuit and to connect the anatomy with infant-directed behavior in various physiological states.
