# Neural Circuits for Context-Dependent Control of Vocal Communication

> **NIH NIH R01** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $399,215

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Vocal communication is essential for human social relationships, and deficits in vocal communication that
characterize autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have devastating impacts on the affected individuals and on
society. Despite the importance of vocalization to social behavior, the brain circuits that allow animals to
vocalize appropriately according to behavioral context remain poorly understood. This proposal seeks to apply
powerful intersectional tools in the mouse to (1) identify and characterize forebrain-to-midbrain circuits that
underlie the context-dependent control of social vocalizations and (2) to understand the midbrain circuits that
underlie the production of distinct acoustic categories of vocalization. Prior work has shown that midbrain-
projecting neurons of the preoptic hypothalamus regulate courtship vocalizations in male mice. Aside from
these neurons, the forebrain inputs to the midbrain that regulate social vocalizations, and whether the relevant
inputs differ according to social context, remains unknown. Aim 1 will combine in vivo calcium imaging,
neuronal silencing, and mapping of axonal projections to test the hypothesis that midbrain-projecting preoptic
neurons regulate social vocalizations produced during affiliative female-female interactions. In Aim 2,
retrograde tracing from the midbrain will be combined with Fos mapping and light sheet imaging of optically
cleared brains to identify novel populations of midbrain-projecting forebrain neurons that are active during and
may regulate vocal communication during courtship, during female-female interactions, or in both contexts. In
Aim 3, activity-dependent labeling in the midbrain will be combined with neuronal ablation and retrograde
tracing from hindbrain vocal premotor neurons to test the hypothesis that distinct sets of midbrain neurons
control the production of different acoustic categories of vocalization. This work will delineate brain circuits that
underlie the context-dependent control of vocalization in the mammalian brain, and more broadly, that link the
encoding of social information to the flexible and appropriate execution of social behaviors. By identifying core
mechanisms of healthy vocal communication, this work will provide a foundation to understand neural circuit
alterations the contribute to vocal communication differences in mouse models of ASD and other
neurodevelopmental disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10856079
- **Project number:** 1R01MH136887-01
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Katherine Tschida
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $399,215
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-04-01 → 2029-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10856079

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10856079, Neural Circuits for Context-Dependent Control of Vocal Communication (1R01MH136887-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10856079. Licensed CC0.

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