Aras Petrulis
Professor, Associate Director of Graduate Studies of the Neuroscience Institute Neuroscience, Psychology- Education
B.S. Psychology; Arizona State University, 1991
Ph.D. Psychology; Cornell University, 1998
- Specializations
Behavioral neuroendocrinology, Social neuroscience, Chemical communication
- Biography
Dr. Aras Petrulis was born in Toronto, Canada but then subsequently relocated to Phoenix, Arizona for high school and college. His undergraduate education in animal behavior and physiological psychology at Arizona State University shaped his interest in studying the neural control of social and communicative behavior. This interest led him to Cornell University, where he did his doctoral work on the neural regulation of female communicative behavior in the laboratory of Dr. Bob Johnston (supported in part by a pre-doctoral Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Award). As a post-doctoral research fellow, Dr. Petrulis worked with Dr. Howard Eichenbaum at Boston University on social memory (supported by a post-doctoral Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Award) and also taught animal behavior at MIT. Attracted by the strong community of behavioral neuroscientists, he joined the faculty at GSU, first in the Department of Psychology and now in the Neuroscience Institute, where he has continued his research program, funded in part by NIMH, on sex-differentiated neural systems that regulate social behavior in both sexes. This research explores the role of the sex-different brain peptide, vasopressin as well as its receptors, in the regulation of social behavior and communication using modern intersectional genetic approaches.
Dr. Petrulis is currently an Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology and, as the Associate Director of Graduate Studies in Neuroscience, oversees the Master's programs in Neuroscience at Georgia State.
- Publications
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- Sex Differences in the Control of Social Investigation and Anxiety by Vasopressin Cells of the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Hypothalamus.
Rigney N, Whylings J, de Vries GJ, Petrulis A. Neuroendocrinology. 2020 Jun 15. doi: 10.1159/000509421. Online ahead of print.PMID: 32541145
The neuropeptide arginine-vasopressin (AVP) has long been implicated in the regulation of social behavior and communication in diverse taxa, but the source of AVP release relevant for behavior has not been precisely determined. Potential sources include hypothalamic cell populations such as the paraventricular (PVN), supraoptic, and suprachiasmatic nuclei, as well as extrahypothalamic cell groups in the extended amygdala. To address if AVP cells in the PVN are important for mouse social communication, we deleted PVN AVP-expressing cells using viral-mediated delivery of Cre-dependent caspase-9 suicide construct into the PVN of AVP-Cre-positive mice (expressing Cre-recombinase under the control of the AVP promoter) or AVP-Cre-negative littermate controls, and assessed their levels of social investigation, social communication, anxiety, sex behavior, and aggression. We found that these lesions increased social investigation in females, but not in males. However, in males but not in females, these lesions increased non-social anxiety-related behaviors in the elevated-plus maze. These results therefore point at differential involvement of PVN AVP-expressing cells in the context of social and emotional behavior in the two sexes, which may contribute to sex differences in social communication and anxiety disorders. - Sex differences in vasopressin 1a receptor regulation of social communication within the lateral habenula and dorsal raphe of mice. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32067962/)
Rigney N, Beaumont R, Petrulis A. Horm Behav. 2020 May;121:104715. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104715. Epub 2020 Mar 10. PMID: 32067962
The neuropeptide arginine-vasopressin (AVP) has long been implicated in the regulation of social behavior and communication in diverse taxa, often through its actions on the V1a receptor (V1aR) and in a sex-different and steroid-dependent way. One source of sex-different brain AVP is the steroid-sensitive and sexually-dimorphic AVP neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a cell population that regulates social behavior in a sex-dependent manner. Potential targets of these BNST-AVP cells include the lateral habenula (LHb) and dorsal raphe (DR), areas known to be important for social behavior, yet few studies have investigated AVP action within these regions. Consequently, to test if V1aR action in the LHb or DR controls social behavior in a sexually dimorphic manner, we administered a highly-specific V1aR antagonist (or saline vehicle) in the LHb or DR of C57BL/6 male and female mice and tested its effects on social investigation, social communication (urine marking, ultrasonic vocalizations), and territorial aggression. V1aR antagonism of the LHb or DR decreased male urine marking toward unfamiliar males, but not toward unfamiliar females. Additionally, V1aR blockade of the LHb decreased ultrasonic vocalizations generated in the presence of females. Social investigation, locomotion and aggressive behavior were not altered by V1aR antagonism in either area. Blocking V1aR in the LHb or DR of females had no effect, indicating V1aR action in the DR and LHb drives sex differences in social communication. - Sexually dimorphic role of BNST vasopressin cells in sickness and social behavior in male and female mice.
Whylings J, Rigney N, Peters NV, de Vries GJ, Petrulis A. Brain Behav Immun. 2020 Jan;83:68-77. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2019.09.015. Epub 2019 Sep 21. PMID: 31550501
Circumstantial evidence supports the hypothesis that the sexually dimorphic vasopressin (AVP) innervation of the brain tempers sickness behavior in males. Here we test this hypothesis directly, by comparing sickness behavior in animals with or without ablations of BNST AVP cells, a major source of sexually dimorphic AVP in the brain. We treated male and female AVP-iCre+ and AVP-iCre- mice that had been injected with viral Cre-dependent caspase-3 executioner construct into the BNST with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or sterile saline, followed by behavioral analysis. In all groups, LPS treatment reliably reduced motor behavior, increased anxiety-related behavior, and reduced sucrose preference and consumption. Male mice, whose BNST AVP cells had been ablated (AVP-iCre+), displayed only minor reductions in LPS-induced sickness behavior, whereas their female counterparts displayed, if anything, an increase in sickness behaviors. All saline-treated mice with BNST AVP cell ablations consumed more sucrose than did control mice, and males, but not females, with BNST AVP cell ablations showed reduced preference for novel conspecifics compared to control mice. These data confirm that BNST AVP cells control social behavior in a sexually dimorphic way, but do not play a critical role in altering sickness behavior. - Sexually Dimorphic Vasopressin Cells Modulate Social Investigation and Communication in Sex-Specific Ways.
Rigney N, Whylings J, Mieda M, de Vries G, Petrulis A. eNeuro. 2019 Jan 28;6(1): ENEURO.0415-18.2019. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0415-18.2019. eCollection 2019 Jan-Feb.PMID: 30693316
The neuropeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP) has long been implicated in the regulation of social behavior and communication, but precisely which AVP cell groups are involved is largely unknown. To address whether the sexually dimorphic AVP cell group in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is important for social communication, we deleted BNST AVP cells by viral delivery of a Cre-dependent caspase-3 cell-death construct in AVP-iCre-positive mice using AVP-iCre negative littermate as controls, and assessed social, sexual, aggressive and anxiety-related behaviors. In males, lesioning BNST AVP cells reduced social investigation of other males and increased urine marking (UM) in the presence of a live female, without altering ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), resident-intruder aggression, copulatory behavior, anxiety, or investigation of females or their odor cues. In females, which have significantly fewer AVP cells in the BNST, these injections influenced copulatory behavior but otherwise had minimal effects on social behavior and communication, indicating that these cells contribute to sex differences in social behavioral function. - Chemosignals, hormones and mammalian reproduction. Petrulis A. Horm Behav. 2013 May;63(5):723-41. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.03.011. Epub 2013 Mar 29. PMID: 23545474
Many mammalian species use chemosignals to coordinate reproduction by altering the physiology and behavior of both sexes. Chemosignals prime reproductive physiology so that individuals become sexually mature and active at times when mating is most probable and suppress it when it is not. Once in reproductive condition, odors produced and deposited by both males and females are used to find and select individuals for mating. The production, dissemination and appropriate responses to these cues are modulated heavily by organizational and activational effects of gonadal sex steroids and thereby intrinsically link chemical communication to the broader reproductive context. Many compounds have been identified as "pheromones" but very few have met the expectations of that term: a unitary, species-typical substance that is both necessary and sufficient for an experience-independent behavioral or physiological response. In contrast, most responses to chemosignals are dependent or heavily modulated by experience, either in adulthood or during development. Mechanistically, chemosignals are perceived by both main and accessory (vomeronasal) olfactory systems with the importance of each system tied strongly to the nature of the stimulus rather than to the response. In the central nervous system, the vast majority of responses to chemosignals are mediated by cortical and medial amygdala connections with hypothalamic and other forebrain structures. Despite the importance of chemosignals in mammals, many details of chemical communication differ even among closely related species and defy clear categorization. Although generating much research and public interest, strong evidence for the existence of a robust chemical communication among humans is lacking.
- Sex Differences in the Control of Social Investigation and Anxiety by Vasopressin Cells of the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Hypothalamus.