C03: Distributed network control and interventions to frustrative non-reward and threat triggered aggressions
Investigate context-dependent aggression triggered by frustrative
non-reward or acute social threats. Using newly developed approaches, multiple behavioral domains will be assessed in
a semi-naturalistic, autonomous mouse habitat. Specifically, the habitat assesses the inter-individual dynamics of social
interactions, aggressions, and hierarchy and the individual reward learning and impulsivity through different integrated
modules. Intermittent challenges comprise intruder aggression and frustrative non-rewards. Within this LCD, circuit
mechanisms are dissected through chemogenetic interventions, in vivo recordings, and functional MRI in awake mice
during task performance. This approach in the first funding period will enable us to disentangle the specific functions of
candidate entry points in prefrontal to ventral striatum pathways with respect to their modulation of aggression and
dominance for potential interventions.
