# Functional connectome of sex-specific processing of social cues

> **NIH NIH R01** · WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE · 2021 · $312,904

## Abstract

Project Summary
Sex differences play a critical role in regulating diverse behaviors in human and nonhuman
species. In humans, several neuropathologies such as Alzheimer's and schizophrenia exhibit
gender biases suggesting the existence of gender-specific neural connectivity patterns.
Therefore, it is essential to elucidate neural processing pathways that each gender utilizes in
response to diverse cues. The overarching goal of our research is to understand olfactory
coding of social cues in different sexes at the molecular, cellular and circuit levels. This proposal
aims to decipher the neural network involved in processing of cues specific for a single gender.
We will address how sensory information is organized at multiple levels within the brain to
encode sex-specific instinctive behaviors. Olfactory information from the environment is
detected by multiple sensory structures like the main olfactory epithelium (MOE) and
vomeronasal organ (VNO). These structures transduce this information to the second-order and
third order neurons creating an olfactory space of the environment in the brain. However, little is
known about how information from the olfactory organs builds internal maps of olfactory space
in the higher cortex generating learned or innate behavioral responses. Here we propose a
circuit-based approach to understand how sex-specific circuits transduce and organize olfactory
sensory information to mediate instinctive behaviors. We are proposing using a novel
combinatorial approach involving neurophysiology, optogenetics and behavioral genetics to
understand information processing in a gender-specific olfactory circuit. Aim-1 will focus on
characterizing the functional connections within the male-specific sensory neurons, to
understand the encoding of concentration preferences of the different cues. Aim-2 will
understand how the patterns of activity in sensory neurons relate to the activation of these
specific downstream interneurons. Aim-3 will address the mechanisms of neuromodulation
within the male-specific sensory circuit. By elucidating the functional connectome of a gender-
specific sensory circuit, we will reveal fundamental solutions into olfactory processing in gender-
specific connectivity maps of vertebrates thereby providing a better understanding of many
neurological and psychiatric diseases, particularly those showing strong sex biases such as
schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10129335
- **Project number:** 5R01DC016058-05
- **Recipient organization:** WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Jagan Srinivasan
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $312,904
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-04-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10129335

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10129335, Functional connectome of sex-specific processing of social cues (5R01DC016058-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10129335. Licensed CC0.

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