Doctoral Dissertation Research: The role of testosterone in the modulation of parental behaviors in primates

博士论文研究：睾酮在灵长类动物父母行为调节中的作用

• 批准号: 1751889
• 负责人: James Higham
• 金额: $ 0.95万
• 依托单位: New York University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-03-15 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1751889&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; role; testosterone

The hormone testosterone (T) occurs in females as well as males, and there is growing interest in understanding the role of T in female reproductive behavioral biology. This doctoral dissertation project investigates relationships between T and maternal behaviors in free-ranging monkeys. The study of T in relation to motherhood in these non-human primates will contribute to the literature on the hormonal mechanisms of parenting, and provide comparative data for understanding the development of human-like parenting behavior during primate and hominin evolution. The project will facilitate training in STEM fields for undergraduates and graduates, including women from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds. This project will also support research collaborations and public science outreach about human and primate biology and evolution.This project will investigate the role of T in regulation of maternal care away from the current offspring towards future reproduction, and displays of aggression to other group members who can potentially harm offspring ('maternal aggression'). The investigators will collect longitudinal data on behaviors and physiology from 49 Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque mothers during their first 3 months postpartum, when maternal care steeply decreases in preparation for the reproductive transition to the next offspring, and when maternal aggression towards others is heightened. Advances in field endocrinology, including the measurement of fecal hormone metabolites, will enable the continuous tracking of physiology along with a rich suite of behaviors and provide new methods for future studies. Comparative data from living non-human primates are valuable for investigating the evolutionary origins of human behavior. The project will therefore contribute to nascent efforts to expand the study of T across taxa and sexes, and to enhance our understanding of how parental care evolved in primates and early humans.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

睾酮激素 (T) 存在于女性和男性中，人们越来越有兴趣了解 T 在女性生殖行为生物学中的作用。这个博士论文项目研究了自由放养猴子的 T 和母性行为之间的关系。对这些非人类灵长类动物中 T 与母性关系的研究将有助于有关养育荷尔蒙机制的文献，并为理解灵长类动物和古人类进化过程中类人养育行为的发展提供比较数据。该项目将促进本科生和研究生在 STEM 领域的培训，包括来自服务不足和代表性不足背景的女性。该项目还将支持有关人类和灵长类生物学和进化的研究合作和公共科学推广。该项目将研究 T 在调节母性护理中的作用，从当前的后代转向未来的繁殖，以及对其他群体成员表现出攻击性。可能会伤害后代（“母性攻击”）。研究人员将收集 49 只圣地亚哥岛恒河猴母亲在产后前 3 个月的行为和生理学纵向数据，此时母性护理急剧减少，为下一个后代的生殖过渡做准备，而母性对他人的攻击性也会加剧。现场内分泌学的进步，包括粪便激素代谢物的测量，将能够持续跟踪生理学和丰富的行为，并为未来的研究提供新方法。来自现存非人类灵长类动物的比较数据对于研究人类行为的进化起源很有价值。因此，该项目将有助于扩大 T 跨类群和性别的研究，并增强我们对灵长类动物和早期人类的亲代照顾如何进化的理解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过评估被认为值得支持利用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准。