# Neural circuits for regulating social behavior in rodents

> **NIH NIH R01** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · 2020 · $256,997

## Abstract

Project Summary
Innate social behaviors such as aggression, mating, and parenting offer a powerful window on the brain
networks that map sensory input onto appropriate motor outputs. The compact architecture of the rodent
vomeronasal system is ideal for characterizing the circuits that translate identified, sex-specific
chemosignals into responses matched to the characteristics of different conspecifics. Here we address
two seemingly contradictory roles of this system: the need to mediate stereotyped interactions with same-
or opposite-sex partners, while still providing flexibility in responses to different individuals based on
established social relationships. We characterize the learning mechanisms that mediate changes in
aggression, a prototypical and highly robust male behavior that is powerfully altered by dominance
relationships. Using powerful genetic tools to access functionally distinct sensory pathways in the
accessory olfactory bulb, our experiments will address (1) the cellular plasticity processes that adapt
aggression levels to reflect social experience, (2) the way that familiarity shapes the sensory
representations of conspecifics during active social interactions, and (3) the circuit anatomy that
organizes behaviorally relevant sensory signals and routes them to downstream limbic centers. A deeper
understanding of the neural mechanisms for regulating aggression may help design strategies for
mitigating pathological behaviors in human communities. More broadly, a deeper knowledge of the brain
networks for social behaviors is highly relevant for understanding autism spectrum disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9879735
- **Project number:** 5R01DC017234-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
- **Principal Investigator:** Ian Gordon Davison
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $256,997
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2024-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9879735

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9879735, Neural circuits for regulating social behavior in rodents (5R01DC017234-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9879735. Licensed CC0.

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