# Towards the identification of a mesoscale neural systems logic underlying innate behaviors

> **NIH NIH K99** · CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2023 · $122,065

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Innate behaviors, also known as instincts, are essential for the survival of all species in the animal kingdom,
including humans. Of great interest is understanding how the experience-induced behavioral plasticity observed
in innate behaviors can lead to maladaptive behavioral expressions, including uncontrolled aggression, sex
offenses, and generalized anxiety. Such mental disorders carry a substantial emotional and financial burden to
families and society, rendering the development of effective therapeutic approaches of high significance.
 The neural substrates of innate behaviors are distributed across numerous brain regions. An essential step
towards understanding how the brain orchestrates behavior is to identify how inter-region interactions of neural
activity influence behavior in freely moving animals. However, methodological limitations have largely restricted
such investigations to single nuclei, while the deep brain remains to date inaccessible to in vivo mesoscale neural
recordings in freely moving animals. The research proposed here uses custom-designed technology to break
this methodological barrier, making possible recordings with single-unit resolution across twenty subregions of
the deep brain (hypothalamus) in freely moving, innate behavior-expressing mice.
 In Aim 1, using this technology, I will investigate the presence of behavior-specific mesoscale hypothalamic
neural features in the innate and learned expressions of social and fear-related behaviors. I will test whether the
activity of specific brain regions can predict specific behaviors, and I will identify the spatial distribution of
hypothalamic clusters exhibiting behavior-tuning or mixed selectivity. In Aim 2, I will dissect how aggression- or
fear-conditioning alters mesoscale neural activity dynamics and test the effect of chronic administration of
pharmacological reagents known to reduce the expression of maladaptive social and fear behaviors. Lastly, in
Aim 3 – the independent phase of the award, I will expand the use of these tools to investigate mesoscale neural
activity dynamics across diverse areas of the corticolimbic system, seeking to identify local and global principles
that guide the expression of the physiological and maladaptive forms of innate behaviors.
 Collectively, the above approaches target the development of an experimental and analytical platform to
address fundamental questions of systems neuroscience on the mesoscale mechanisms that govern the
expression of innate behaviors. Following these initial steps, this work will be complemented by experimentation
aiming to test whether the identified neural features in the behaviors of interest have a causal role.
 Through the mentored phase of this award, my vision is to build a highly complementary skillset to the one I
acquired during my graduate training, and create a unique, state-of-the-art independent research program. By
pursuing work spanning diverse disciplines, inc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10734660
- **Project number:** 1K99MH131754-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Stefanos Stagkourakis
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $122,065
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10734660

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10734660, Towards the identification of a mesoscale neural systems logic underlying innate behaviors (1K99MH131754-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10734660. Licensed CC0.

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