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Emergent behavioral and transcriptional properties of pair bonds

Award Number: F31MH132278
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/01/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/29/2024

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Emergent behavioral and transcriptional properties of pair bonds - Project Summary Pair bonds play critical roles in the human experience and profoundly influence our physical and emotional health. For a bond to be beneficial and the pair to accomplish shared goals, partners must work together through reciprocal action where each person acts and the other responds in turn. Despite the dyadic nature of pair bonds, the vast majority of studies on pair bonding focus on only one member of a pair, leaving us with an impoverished view of the dynamics between partners that facilitate relationship success. To fill this knowledge gap, I will use pair bonding prairie voles to examine the behavioral and biological basis of pair bonding in both partners of bonded pairs. My preliminary data show that in prairie voles, partners organize their affiliative behavior as bonds mature. In this proposal, I will use computational techniques to examine the discrete elements that underlie organized intra-pair behavior at two levels of biological organization: behavior and transcription. In my first Aim, I will leverage machine learning algorithms to decipher the within-animal and between-animal behavioral sequences that partners exhibit when allowed to interact freely with each other. This will reveal the behavioral components that contribute to intra-pair behavioral organization. To determine the neuromolecular basis of this behavior, in my second Aim, I will use single nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) to map the transcriptional landscape of the prairie vole nucleus accumbens (NAc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), two brain regions critical for pair bonding. snRNA-seq will enable me to identify changes to discrete cellular populations upon bonding and will allow me to compare the similarity of transcriptional landscapes between bonded partners, potentially revealing a role for transcriptional convergence in the organization of intra-pair behavior. Together, these Aims will provide a new, dual- individual lens through which we can understand pair bonding and will provide me with training in the computational analysis of behavior and transcriptomics, invaluable skills for my career as an independent researcher.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = -$26,279 )
2025	2024	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	3100 MARINE ST	BOULDER	CO	80303	BOULDER	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	2	9/26/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$5,010
2025	2024	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	3100 MARINE ST	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	4/4/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$21,269
														Subtotal = -$26,279

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $42,042 )
2024	2024	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	3100 MARINE ST	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	7/12/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$42,042
														Subtotal = $42,042

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $40,497 )
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	3100 MARINE ST STE 481 572 UCB	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	1	7/12/2023	NEW	$0
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	3100 MARINE ST STE 481 572 UCB	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	7/12/2023	NEW	$40,497
														Subtotal = $40,497

Grand Total All Awards = $56,260

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Emergent behavioral and transcriptional properties of pair bonds

Award Number: F31MH132278

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/01/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/29/2024

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