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.
- 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 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.
There are shared interests in the areas of neuropsychiatric and sleep disorders with Adult Lifespan Psychopathology (ALP), Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities (CPDD), Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health (MESH) and Neural Basis of Psychopathology, Addictions, and Sleep Disorders (NPAS). Applications that emphasize sleep or circadian rhythms in preclinical models are reviewed in BNRS. Applications that emphasize more structural and mechanistic aspects and the etiology, neural mechanisms, diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment of sleep disorders in humans are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize emotional, and/or behavioral aspects of psychopathology are reviewed in ALP. Applications that emphasize behavioral phenotypes of child and adolescent psychopathology are reviewed in CPDD. Applications that emphasize the interactions of psychological stress and emotion states or involving sleep or circadian rhythms are reviewed in MESH.
There are shared interests in neuroimmunology in the CNS with Clinical Neuroimmunology and Brain Tumors (CNBT). Applications that emphasize basic neuroimmunology are reviewed by BNRS. Applications that emphasize investigative neuroimmunology in disease are 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.
There are shared interests with the Mechanisms of Autoimmunity (MAI). Applications that focus on autoimmune mechanisms of neurologic damage may be reviewed in MAI. Applications examining neural tissue and processes associated with neural diseases may be reviewed in BNRS.
