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科学家发现青少年时期社交孤立影响成年社交能力的神经机制
作者:小柯机器人 发布时间:2020/9/2 16:21:58

美国西奈山伊坎医学院Hirofumi Morishita小组发现,一个前额-室旁核丘脑回路需要青少年时期的社交经历来调节小鼠的成年社交能力。2020年8月31日,《自然—神经科学》在线发表了这一成果。

研究人员发现,在雄性小鼠中,断奶后2周的社交隔离会导致成年社交接触期间未能激活投射到后室旁丘脑(mPFC→pPVT)的内侧前额叶皮层神经元。成年期mPFC→pPVT活性的化学或光遗传抑制足以诱发社交缺陷,而不影响焦虑相关行为或对奖励食物的偏爱。青少年孤立既导致mPFC→pPVT神经元的兴奋性降低,也导致成年期低阈值生长抑素中间神经元的抑制性输入驱动增加,这表明存在社交能力缺陷的回路机制。成年期mPFC→pPVT神经元的化学遗传或光遗传刺激可以挽救青少年孤立所致的社交障碍。
 
这项研究确定了社交能力所需的内侧前额叶皮层兴奋性和抑制性神经元群体,其深受青少年时期社交经历的影响。
 
据介绍,青少年时期的社交孤立降低了成年后的社交能力,但对潜在神经回路机制的了解甚少。
 
附:英文原文

Title: A prefrontal–paraventricular thalamus circuit requires juvenile social experience to regulate adult sociability in mice

Author: Kazuhiko Yamamuro, Lucy K. Bicks, Michael B. Leventhal, Daisuke Kato, Susanna Im, Meghan E. Flanigan, Yury Garkun, Kevin J. Norman, Keaven Caro, Masato Sadahiro, Klas Kullander, Schahram Akbarian, Scott J. Russo, Hirofumi Morishita

Issue&Volume: 2020-08-31

Abstract: Juvenile social isolation reduces sociability in adulthood, but the underlying neural circuit mechanisms are poorly understood. We found that, in male mice, 2weeks of social isolation immediately following weaning leads to a failure to activate medial prefrontal cortex neurons projecting to the posterior paraventricular thalamus (mPFC→pPVT) during social exposure in adulthood. Chemogenetic or optogenetic suppression of mPFC→pPVT activity in adulthood was sufficient to induce sociability deficits without affecting anxiety-related behaviors or preference toward rewarding food. Juvenile isolation led to both reduced excitability of mPFC→pPVT neurons and increased inhibitory input drive from low-threshold-spiking somatostatin interneurons in adulthood, suggesting a circuit mechanism underlying sociability deficits. Chemogenetic or optogenetic stimulation of mPFC→pPVT neurons in adulthood could rescue the sociability deficits caused by juvenile isolation. Our study identifies a pair of specific medial prefrontal cortex excitatory and inhibitory neuron populations required for sociability that are profoundly affected by juvenile social experience.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-0695-6

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-0695-6

期刊信息

Nature Neuroscience:《自然—神经科学》,创刊于1998年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团,最新if:21.126
官方网址:https://www.nature.com/neuro/
投稿链接:https://mts-nn.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex