Social behaviour shapes hypothalamic neural ensemble representations of conspecific sex
| Autor: | Mark J. Schnitzer, David J. Anderson, Ryan Remedios, Ann Kennedy, Benjamin F. Grewe, Moriel Zelikowsky |
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| Přispěvatelé: | University of Zurich, Anderson, David J |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Male Hypothalamus Male mice Social behaviour Biology Article 03 medical and health sciences Mice Sexual Behavior Animal 0302 clinical medicine Neural ensemble Premovement neuronal activity Animals Mating Social Behavior 10194 Institute of Neuroinformatics Instinct 1000 Multidisciplinary Sex Characteristics Multidisciplinary Neuronal Plasticity Attack response Repertoire Optogenetics 030104 developmental biology Receptors Estrogen 570 Life sciences biology Female Neuroscience 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | Nature |
| Popis: | All animals possess a repertoire of innate (or instinctive) behaviours, which can be performed without training. Whether such behaviours are mediated by anatomically distinct and/or genetically specified neural pathways remains unknown. Here we report that neural representations within the mouse hypothalamus, that underlie innate social behaviours, are shaped by social experience. Oestrogen receptor 1-expressing (Esr1+) neurons in the ventrolateral subdivision of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl) control mating and fighting in rodents. We used microendoscopy to image Esr1+neuronal activity in the VMHvl of male mice engaged in these social behaviours. In sexually and socially experienced adult males, divergent and characteristic neural ensembles represented male versus female conspecifics. However, in inexperienced adult males, male and female intruders activated overlapping neuronal populations. Sex-specific neuronal ensembles gradually separated as the mice acquired social and sexual experience. In mice permitted to investigate but not to mount or attack conspecifics, ensemble divergence did not occur. However, 30 minutes of sexual experience with a female was sufficient to promote the separation of male and female ensembles and to induce an attack response 24 h later. These observations uncover an unexpected social experience-dependent component to the formation of hypothalamic neural assemblies controlling innate social behaviours. More generally, they reveal plasticity and dynamic coding in an evolutionarily ancient deep subcortical structure that is traditionally viewed as a ‘hard-wired’ system. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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