Dissecting the synaptic and circuit mechanisms underlying olfactory-driven social behavior

PROJECT NARRATIVE In humans, social processing impairment is a common symptom of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. This proposal will employ innovative and precise anatomical, physiological, and causal assays to determine where sensory stimuli are assigned social meaning and how neuromodulators affect the processing of socially meaningful sensory information to drive emotional behavior. This will provide circuit-level insight into how these neuromodulators contribute to social processing impairment in genetic psychiatric mouse models, and aid in the development of novel treatments for psychiatric and mood disorders.