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Reward mechanisms supporting affiliation between peers

Award Number: R15MH113085
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 03/06/2017
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2021

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Reward mechanisms supporting affiliation between peers - Social relationships influence diverse aspects of human health, from mood to mortality. Furthermore, many psychiatric disorders list psychopathologies of social behavior as one of their core symptoms (eg. autism, social anxiety disorder, antisocial personality disorder). Prairie voles are socially monogamous rodents that provide a means of studying the neural mechanisms that underlie attachment. While decades of research have now examined the basis of monogamy, the mechanisms underlying specific affiliation to non-mate peers remain largely unknown—despite the frequency and importance of peer relationships. In this project we examine peer relationships in prairie voles and contrast them to mate relationships, as well as to peer relationships in a related non-monogamous species. We specifically focus on the role of reward and dopamine transmission because mate relationships are highly rewarding and require activation of dopamine (type D2) receptors in order to form. Dopamine (type D1) receptors are involved in the maintenance of the pair bond and rejection of other potential social contacts. Evidence from a related vole—the meadow vole— suggests that peer affiliation is not dopamine dependent in this non-monogamous species, and the role of reward has not been tested. Three specific aims investigate the role of reward and dopamine across relationship types. Aim 1 will determine whether social reward is an important feature of peer relationships using monogamous prairie voles and non-monogamous meadow voles. Voles will be tested for conditioned place preferences associated with social contact, and reward value will be quantified in voles trained to lever press for different social and non- social incentives. Aim 2 will use similar methods to assess the role of reward in mate versus peer relationships in prairie voles. Aim 3 will assess the role of dopamine in peer affiliation by measuring the effects of dopamine receptor manipulations on behavior, and by measuring the effects of social manipulations on the densities of dopamine (D1 and D2) receptors. These studies will provide basic information on the role of reward and dopamine in peer relationships in a monogamous mammal, laying groundwork for better understanding of peer relationships in humans. The contrasts between a) prairie vole vs. meadow vole peer relationships, and b) prairie vole peer vs. mate relationships will determine whether these mechanisms are more consistent across types of relationships within a species, or within peer relationships across species. This will yield important insights into how these findings can be appropriately translated to human health, and which research models will provide them.


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: 2021 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2021	2017	TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE, THE	1 CHAPIN WAY	NORTHAMPTON	MA	01063	HAMPSHIRE	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	3/26/2021	NEW	$0
2021	2017	TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE, THE	1 CHAPIN WAY	NORTHAMPTON	MA	01063	HAMPSHIRE	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	1	9/22/2021	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2017 ( Subtotal = $361,259 )
2017	2017	TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE, THE	1 CHAPIN WAY	NORTHAMPTON	MA	01063	HAMPSHIRE	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	3/6/2017	NEW	$361,259
														Subtotal = $361,259

Grand Total All Awards = $361,259

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Reward mechanisms supporting affiliation between peers

Award Number: R15MH113085

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 03/06/2017

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2021

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