# Establishing Neural Control Systems for Social Homeostasis

> **NIH NIH R01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $496,806

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The importance of social contact for mental and physical health is gaining widespread recognition in the medical
and neuroscience communities. Despite the abstract nature of social substrates, there is growing recognition
that striking a balance between social contact and isolation, or 'social homeostasis', is critical to mental and
physical health. Homeostatic neural control systems have been established for every essential physical
resource, including food, water, and body temperature, and act to stabilize internal values around a set point. In
contrast, the term 'social homeostasis' has only recently appeared as a conceptual placeholder and no neural
control system for social homeostasis has been identified. Intriguingly, a common feature of autism spectrum
disorder, in addition to social disruption, is atypical homeostatic behavior―including problems sleeping, unsual
eating, excessive water drinking, and hyper or hypo thermal sensitivities. However, it remains unclear whether
the neural circuits that regulate social and physical forms of homeostasis are separate or overlapping. Without
this information, we are unlikely to understand the complex ways that social contact mediates brain health and
disease. Here, we propose to bridge this gap by establishing a new framework of ‘social homeostasis’ in
which abstract social substrates are made concrete in terms of identified neural circuits. This project will
leverage state-of-the-art in vivo circuit technology to study adult male and female mice engaging in ethologically
relevant social and nonsocial homeostatic behaviors. Using specialized imaging technology, we will record the
activity of hundreds of individual neurons in real-time in awake behaving mice across social and physical
homeostatic challenges. This will illuminate the fixed and flexible dynamics of homeostatic control neurons
across distinct behavioral states. In addition, we will apply behavioral optogenetics and whole organ clearing
techniques, to establish the wiring and functional encoding of brain wide socially engaged homeostatic circuits.
If successful, we will uncover a neural control system for social resources―the first homeostatic control system
to regulate a non-physical resource. This will provide a new platform to understand the health and stability of
individuals, groups, and populations, and change our understanding of how social experience confers resilience
or susceptibility to specific disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder and depression.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10815710
- **Project number:** 5R01MH129642-03
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jenna Ann McHenry
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $496,806
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-05-01 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10815710

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10815710, Establishing Neural Control Systems for Social Homeostasis (5R01MH129642-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10815710. Licensed CC0.

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