# Sex Differences in the Social Brain

> **NIH NIH R01** · GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $645,854

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
In most mammalian species, social interactions among individuals of the same species are governed by
dominance relationships. These hierarchical relationships are established and maintained by agonistic
behaviors, including aggression. Importantly, recent data indicate that the neural mechanisms underlying
aggression and attaining dominance produce a phenotype that is resistant to social stress while the
mechanisms underlying subordinate status produce a social stress-susceptible phenotype that may result in
a number of adverse behavioral and physiological outcomes. Despite the relationship between social status
and stress, the neurochemical mechanisms that underlie dominance have received only limited attention in
males and almost no attention in females. This project will fill this critical gap in our knowledge by testing an
integrated series of hypotheses using Syrian hamsters and rhesus monkeys. This project will critically test the
overarching hypothesis that the agonistic behaviors responsible for the formation and maintenance of
dominance relationships are regulated in dramatically different ways by vasopressin (AVP) and serotonin (5-
HT) in males and females. Specifically, we propose that activation of AVP and inhibition of 5-HT promotes
dominant status and a stress resistant phenotype in MALES while producing subordinate status and a stress
susceptible phenotype in FEMALES. In contrast, inhibition of AVP and activation of 5-HT promotes
dominance and a stress resistant phenotype in FEMALES while producing subordinate status and a stress
susceptible phenotype in MALES. Together, these data will significantly expand our knowledge of sex
differences in the neurochemical mechanisms that define social phenotypes and will provide innovative
gender specific strategies for promoting resistance to social stress. The data obtained in this project could
have an almost immediate clinical impact by guiding drug treatments for stress reduction in men and women
as well as guiding drug development by emphasizing the role of AVP-targeted drugs in males and 5-HT-
targeted drugs in females.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9913580
- **Project number:** 5R01MH110212-05
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** H. Elliott Albers
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $645,854
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-05 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9913580

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9913580, Sex Differences in the Social Brain (5R01MH110212-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9913580. Licensed CC0.

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