The neural basis of dynamic territorial aggression and fear

Introduction

The urge to defend one’s territory is an evolutionarily conserved instinct aimed at securing optimal access to food, mates, and shelter. Conflict arises when territories become unstable due to seasonal changes in resource availability or when population density increases.

Balancing Aggression and Avoidance

Under such conditions, individuals must carefully balance social aggression and avoidance to maximize their control of territorial resources while avoiding subordination at the hands of their neighbors.

Research Question

What is the neural basis of such dynamic territorial behaviors? We have found that an evolutionarily conserved medial hypothalamic brain structure serves as a switch between social aggression and avoidance.

Objectives

In this proposal, we ask:

1. Where is territory encoded in the brain?
2. How could it control this hypothalamic switch?

Insights from Recent Work

A clue emerges from recent work in which we discovered that neural activity in this structure encodes a map of social space much like the mammalian hippocampus encodes a map of navigational space. However, unlike hippocampal place cells that arise spontaneously as animals explore, hypothalamic territory cells require social experience to form.

Methodology

We will develop a semi-natural laboratory testing environment where we can:

• Monitor the dynamic acquisition of territories in mice over time.
• Apply in vivo neural recording, activity perturbation, and computational modeling to extract precise synaptic integration and plasticity mechanisms that underlie territory-based decision-making in the mammalian brain.

Significance

Uncovering the neural basis of territorial behaviors is an essential step toward a biological understanding of human aggression and fear. It could provide insight into interventions for maladaptive responses to threats to personal space, resources, and beliefs.