# Identifying the Neural Substrates of Novelty-Related Social Investigation

> **NIH NIH F31** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $48,974

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
One of the most critical social decisions that animals make is whether to approach or ignore a
conspecific based off of previous interactions. For instance, mice will readily investigate novel
conspecifics while avoiding familiar conspecifics. Emerging research has established that the
ventral hippocampus (vHPC) is necessary for discriminating between novel and familiar
conspecifics. However, it remains unclear how novelty recognition information encoded by the
vHPC is transformed by a series of downstream brain regions to guide subsequent behaviors
such as social approach and investigation. The lateral septum (LS) receives strong projections
from the vHPC, and it in turn projects to the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a region that promotes
social approach and affiliation. Therefore, the LS is ideally positioned to integrate recognition
information from the vHPC and in turn promote investigation through its projection to the NAc. In
this proposed project, I will leverage sophisticated in vivo recording techniques, projection-specific
optogenetic stimulation, and novel computational approaches to elucidate the role of the vHPC-
dLS-NAc pathway in novelty-related social investigation. In Aim 1, I will use cellular resolution
calcium imaging to determine how social recognition information and motivated social behaviors
are encoded in vHPC-LS and LS-NAc projection populations. In Aim 2, I will optogenetically excite
and inhibit LS-NAc neurons to determine if this projection is causally involved in regulating
investigation of a novel conspecific. Completion of these aims will answer a fundamental question
regarding how sensory information of a social stimulus is transformed into motivated social
behavior. Additionally, findings from this study will open avenues for future research that can
explore how this pathway might be disrupted in disorders that impact social recognition such as
Alzheimer’s Disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10998197
- **Project number:** 1F31MH135662-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Benjamin Forrest Dykstra
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $48,974
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10998197

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10998197, Identifying the Neural Substrates of Novelty-Related Social Investigation (1F31MH135662-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10998197. Licensed CC0.

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