Article
Behavioral Sciences
Abigail Fortier, Olivia C. Meisner, Amrita R. Nair, Steve W. C. Chang
Summary: Although the diagnostic prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is increasing, treatment options are limited due to a lack of understanding of its underlying neural mechanisms and the heterogeneity of ASD. Recent studies suggest that different genetic and neurological alterations may affect similar neural circuits, highlighting the importance of understanding neural circuit-level dysfunction for developing broader treatments for ASD. Dysfunction in circuits mediating social preference may contribute to the atypical development of social cognition in individuals with ASD.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Nestor I. Martinez-Torres, Nallely Vazquez-Hernandez, Fabiola L. Martin-Amaya-Barajas, Mario Flores-Soto, Ignacio Gonzalez-Burgos
Summary: The study found that lesions induced by Ibotenic acid (IA) affect social behavior and working memory in rats, leading to decreased dendritic spine density and reduced protein content. Plastic changes in the proportion of dendritic spine types suggest the activation of compensatory processes in response to the adverse effects of the lesion.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Axel Fogaca Rosado, Laura Menegatti Bevilacqua, Eduardo Luiz Gasnhar Moreira, Manuella Pinto Kaster
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate if variability in baseline flexibility can enable differences in coping strategies, changes in neuroplasticity, and behavioral outcomes in responses to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). The results showed that animals with high behavioral flexibility exhibited changes in their coping strategies during the CSDS protocol, and they also displayed higher dendritic complexity in certain cortical areas. Moreover, high flexibility was associated with better emotional responses and motivation. However, exposure to CSDS reversed the beneficial effects of high flexibility in male mice.
PROGRESS IN NEURO-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Navdeep K. Lidhar, Soroush Darvish-Ghane, Sivaani Sivaselvachandran, Sana Khan, Fatima Wasif, Holly Turner, Meruba Sivaselvachandran, Neil M. Fournier, Loren J. Martin
Summary: Research has shown that experiencing pain with an unfamiliar individual can suppress pain contagion in males by activating the endocrine stress response. Inhibition or activation of glucocorticoid receptors in the prelimbic cortex can impact the occurrence of pain contagion. Furthermore, the study results suggest that the activity in the prelimbic cortex might play a key role in preventing pain contagion under certain conditions.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hidekazu Sotoyama, Hiroyoshi Inaba, Yuriko Iwakura, Hisaaki Namba, Nobuyuki Takei, Toshikuni Sasaoka, Hiroyuki Nawa
Summary: Dopamine in the prefrontal cortex has opposing effects on social behavior depending on the duration of its activation. Sustained dopamine activation suppresses social behavior while acute activation enhances it. The duration of social interactions is positively correlated with transient dopamine release and negatively correlated with sustained dopamine increase in the prefrontal cortex. Dopamine levels also modulate neural calcium signaling and c-Fos induction triggered by social stimuli in prefrontal neurons.
Article
Neurosciences
Giulia Poggi, Jamie Albiez, Christopher R. Pryce
Summary: This study explores the impact of chronic social stress (CSS) on the oligodendrocyte (OL) lineage in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and amygdala (AMY) of mice. The findings suggest that CSS leads to increased myelination in the mPFC and alterations in OL populations in both the mPFC and AMY, which may contribute to excessive aversion learning and memory observed in stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders.
NEUROBIOLOGY OF STRESS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Wen-Jing Ren, Ya-Fei Zhao, Jie Li, Patrizia Rubini, Zeng-Qiang Yuan, Yong Tang, Peter Illes
Summary: This study found that in a mouse model of major depressive disorder, depression-like behavior can be aggravated by microinjecting the P2X7R agonist ATP or its analog dibenzoyl-ATP into the medial prefrontal cortex, and this effect can be reversed by the P2X7R antagonist JNJ-47965567.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Helena Ferreira, Ana Catarina Sousa, Jose Sereno, Joao Martins, Miguel Castelo-Branco, Joana Goncalves
Summary: This study found sexual dimorphisms in the levels of metabolites in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of a genetic animal model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and observed differential social behavior and increased repetitive behavior in female mutant animals. These findings suggest that sex-dependent alterations in molecular and metabolic pathways may contribute to the sexual dimorphic behaviors and communication observed in social and repetitive environments.
Article
Neurosciences
Karim Ibrahim, Carla Kalvin, Simon Morand-Beaulieu, George He, Kevin A. Pelphrey, Gregory McCarthy, Denis G. Sukhodolsky
Summary: Children with aggressive behavior exhibit reduced amygdala connectivity during face emotion processing, which is moderated by social impairment. The association between reduced amygdala-ventrolateral PFC connectivity and severity of aggression is influenced by social deficits in these children. Amygdala reactivity to fearful faces is not associated with aggressive behavior severity in children with social impairments.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Laura Sanchez-Marin, Maria Flores-Lopez, Ana L. Gavito, Juan Suarez, Francisco Javier Pavon-Moron, Fernando Rodriguez de Fonseca, Antonia Serrano
Summary: Repeated stress and alcohol exposure during adolescence can lead to long-term anxiety-like behavior in male rats, but with different mechanisms involved in the brain.
Article
Neurosciences
Alexandra Wal, Frederike Johanna Klein, Gregory Born, Laura Busse, Steffen Katzner
Summary: Mice can evaluate visual cues within a few hundred milliseconds, with approximately 30% of V1 neurons showing cue selectivity. This selectivity is influenced by behavioral demands and can vary in strength between V1 and ACC areas.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tsuyoshi Hattori, Stanislav M. Cherepanov, Ryo Sakaga, Jureepon Roboon, Dinh Thi Nguyen, Hiroshi Ishii, Mika Takarada-Iemata, Takumi Nishiuchi, Takayuki Kannon, Kazuyoshi Hosomichi, Atsushi Tajima, Yasuhiko Yamamoto, Hiroshi Okamoto, Akira Sugawara, Haruhiro Higashida, Osamu Hori
Summary: This study reveals that astrocytes, specifically the CD38 protein expressed in them, play a crucial role in social behavior by regulating oxytocin release and synapse formation. Deletion of CD38 in postnatal astrocytes impairs social memory and inhibits synaptogenesis, highlighting the importance of astrocytes in neural circuit formation.
Article
Neurosciences
Diego Scheggia, Filippo La Greca, Federica Maltese, Giulia Chiacchierini, Maria Italia, Cinzia Molent, Fabrizio Bernardi, Giulia Coccia, Nicolo Carrano, Elisa Zianni, Fabrizio Gardoni, Monica Di Luca, Francesco Papaleo
Summary: Decisions regarding self-interest or the interest of others depend on context and relationships between individuals, and the neurobiology underlying these choices is not well understood. This study found that amygdala neurons play a role in prosocial decision-making, with specific projections to the prefrontal cortex mediating altruistic choices and projections from the prefrontal cortex to the amygdala modulating self-interest motives.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Noriyoshi Usui, Yuta Ono, Ryoko Aramaki, Stefano Berto, Genevieve Konopka, Hideo Matsuzaki, Shoichi Shimada
Summary: This study demonstrates that early life stress influences social behaviors and anxiety-like behaviors in adolescent mice through alterations in cytoarchitecture and transcriptome in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The research showed that social impairments, increased anxiety-like behaviors, reduced number of neurons, and increased number of microglia were observed in the PFC of mice exposed to early life stress. Additionally, 15 differentially expressed genes involved in transcriptional regulation, stress, and synaptic signaling were identified in the PFC of these mice.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Jessica P. Uy, Macrina Dieffenbach, Carrianne J. Leschak, Naomi I. Eisenberger, Andrew J. Fuligni, Adriana Galvan
Summary: Adolescence is a period characterized by biological and psychosocial changes that lead to increased sleep disturbances and stress sensitivity. This study found that individual differences in peripheral immune markers were related to neural response to stress in adolescents, and these associations were moderated by sleep duration.