# Role of OT and Ach in enhancing social discrimination by modulating rat amygdalo-striatal networks

> **NIH NIH P50** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $702,895

## Abstract

Project Summary (Project 3, Rainnie) 
The ability to recognize the identity and intentions of others and to react accordingly is an evolutionarily adaptive 
process with relevance to psychiatric disorders. However, the cellular and neurotransmitter systems that regulate 
this process remain largely unknown. One region consistently shown to play a pivotal role in regulating the 
behavioral response to both appetitive and aversive sensory and/or social stimuli is the basolateral amygdala 
(BLA). The activity of neurons in the BLA has been shown to signal preference in a social recognition task, and 
in the previous Conte Center funding period we showed that during social interaction between same sex rats 
neural activity in the BLA and a key component of reward circuitry, the nucleus accumbens (NAc), became highly 
synchronized. Synchronization was associated with markedly enhanced θ-γ cross-frequency-coupling (θ-γ CFC) 
similar to that seen in non-human primates (NHP) during performance of a social preference task (see Project 
4) and between the mPFC and NAc during pair bonding in voles (Project 2). Together, these data suggest that 
θ-γ CFC may represent a canonical mechanism for integrating executive, emotion, and reward circuits to drive 
appropriate behavioral responses during social interaction. We have successfully developed a novel rat social 
recognition task, which mirrors the task being utilized in the NHP studies of Project 4, and with which we can 
directly examine the role of two neurotransmitters, acetylcholine (ACh) and oxytocin (OT) in the modulation of 
social recognition as well as θ-γ CFC in the pathway from the BLA to the NAc. These two neurotransmitters have 
been shown to play key roles in regulating cue discrimination, θ-γ CFC, and social interaction in rodents and 
NHPs. However, ACh and OT are usually studied independently of one another. It is our contention that ACh 
and OT act synergistically in the BLA to facilitate social recognition in conspecifics. Here, we will test the 
hypothesis that OT release in the BLA acts to facilitate social recognition by enhancing ACh release in the BLA 
and promoting θ-γ CFC in the pathway from the BLA to NAc. To challenge this hypothesis we will use state-of- 
the-art gene transfer and gene deletion techniques in conjunction with pathway specific viral vector manipulations 
to selectively target specific neural circuits that are thought to regulate BLA neural activity during social 
recognition and discrimination. The PI of Project 3, is an internationally recognized expert in the field of amygdala 
anatomy and physiology and has a track record of using state-of-the-art viral vector manipulations to examine 
the fine structure of neural circuits that regulate affective behavior. In addition, the research team for Project 3 
have all of the necessary expertise to successfully complete the proposed studies. We anticipate that at the end 
of Project 3 we will have markedly increased our ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10336352
- **Project number:** 5P50MH100023-10
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Shannon Leigh Gourley
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $702,895
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-07-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10336352

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10336352, Role of OT and Ach in enhancing social discrimination by modulating rat amygdalo-striatal networks (5P50MH100023-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10336352. Licensed CC0.

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