Aperçu du projet
Social behavior is traditionally viewed as a response to external cues: the presence, identity, or actions of others. Yet anyone who has felt “hangry” knows that the same social situation can evoke dramatically different behaviors depending on our internal state. For example, when we are hungry or dehydrated, we may feel irritable, less social, or more defensive. Despite how intuitive this feels, we still do not understand how internal states like hunger or thirst shape the way we interact with others.
This project explores a new idea: that the same brain systems that control basic survival needs, such as eating and drinking, also influence social behavior. We focus on two key brain signals, oxytocin and vasopressin. Oxytocin is regarded as the “love hormone”, and is often linked to bonding and positive social interactions, while vasopressin is associated with alertness, competition, aggression, and territorial behavior. These signals are activated by feeding and hydration, suggesting that the brain may use them to link our physical state to how we behave socially, helping explain why being hungry can make us “hangry.”
We also investigate how support cells in the brain known as glia, help regulate this process. These cells can change their structure depending on the body’s state, potentially shaping how brain circuits respond over time.
To study this, we will compare highly social animals with more solitary ones and examine how changes in feeding and hydration affect their behavior and brain activity.
Overall, this research aims to uncover how internal body states influence social behavior, which may improve our understanding of conditions like autism and eating disorders.
Partenaires et donateurs
Brain Canada, Weizmann Canada, and the Weizmann Institute of Science
