Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Neuroimmunology, Rhythms, and Sleep – BNRS
The Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Neuroimmunology, Rhythms, and Sleep Study Section (BNRS) reviews applications to study circadian rhythms and sleep, neuroendocrinology, and neuroimmunology in a behavioral context. Studies may employ genetic, biochemical, bioinformatic, molecular, anatomic, or developmental approaches. Studies typically use either vertebrate or invertebrate animal models, but relevant applications involving human subjects are also reviewed. BNRS considers applications across the lifespan including development, maturation and aging, as well as rhythmicity and plasticity in the adult.
Review Dates
Topics
- Neural circuitry of circadian and other activity rhythms including pacemaker mechanisms, output pathways, and peripheral clocks.
- Neural circuit mechanisms that generate, maintain and regulate sleep, and promote arousal, including the influences of external stimuli, neuroendocrine systems, and the internal state on circadian rhythms and sleep.
- Neurobiological mechanisms through which circadian rhythms or sleep affect organ systems, and normal physiological processes, such as ingestive behaviors, reproductive hormones, stress hormones, emotional states, cognition, the immune system, aging, and neurological disease.
- Reproductive neuroendocrinology of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and related circuits, with emphasis on the impact of reproductive hormones on the neural basis of reproductive, cognitive, and other behaviors across the lifespan.
- Stress neuroendocrinology of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and related circuits, with emphasis on the impact of stress hormones on neuronal processes in affective and cognitive behaviors.
- Social/affiliative neuroendocrinology with emphasis on the impact of hormones on neuronal processes contributing to maternal, affiliative, and social behaviors.
- Ingestive behavior, including neural regulation of food and fluid intake, and whole-body energy homeostasis.
- Interactions between the nervous and immune systems with an emphasis on associated sickness, affiliative, cognitive, and depressive behaviors.
Shared Interests and Overlaps
Applications focused on neuroendocrine or neuroimmune aspects of behavior associated with drugs of abuse or ethanol may be reviewed by Neurobiology of Motivated Behavior (NMB) or Neurotoxicology and Alcohol (NAL).
Applications focused on behavioral motivation associated with ingestion of food or fluids may be reviewed by Neurobiology of Motivated Behavior (NMB).
Applications focused on the neural regulation of food and fluid intake may be reviewed by Pathophysiology of Obesity and Metabolic Disease (POMD) when the focus is primarily on metabolism, rather than behavioral regulation.
Applications to study effects of olfaction and taste, or the microbiome on ingestive behaviors may be reviewed in Neuroscience of Interoception and Chemosensation (NIC).
Applications that focus on the mechanisms of the HPG axis and neurophysiology of hormones may be reviewed by Integrative and Clinical Endocrinology and Reproduction (ICER), while those that focus on reproductive, cognitive, and other behavioral outcomes may be more appropriate for BNRS.
Applications focused on neurobiological processes overlapping with BNRS, but centered on behavioral assays, may be reviewed in Biobehavioral Regulation, Learning and Ethology (BRLE).
Applications focused on biological rhythms or sleep may be reviewed by Neurodifferentiation, Plasticity, and Regeneration (NDPR) when centered on cellular and molecular processes with limited behavior analysis, including Drosophila or C. elegans.
Applications focused on the basic physiology and pathophysiology of glial cells may be reviewed by Cellular and Molecular Biology of Glia (CMBG) if there is little consideration of associated behaviors.
Applications focused on sleep or circadian rhythms in human subjects may be reviewed by Neural Basis of Psychopathology, Addictions and Sleep Disorders (NPAS) or Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health (MESH), while those focused on neuroimmunology in human subjects may be reviewed by Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, Neuroimmunology, Rhythms, and Sleep (BNRS).
Clinical Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumors (CNBT). Applications focused on basic neuroimmunology are generally reviewed by BNRS whereas applications that investigate neuroimmunology in disease are generally reviewed in CNBT.
There are shared interests in neuroendocrinology with Molecular Cellular Neuropharmacology (MCNP). Applications involving the neurobiological basis of behavior with a focus on neuroendocrinological processes are reviewed in BNRS. Applications that emphasize the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuroendocrinology are reviewed in MCNP.
