Encoding of social exploration by neural ensembles in the insular cortex.
Isamu MiuraMasaaki SatoEric T N OvertonNobuo KunoriJunichi NakaiTakakazu KawamataNobuhiro NakaiToru TakumiPublished in: PLoS biology (2020)
The insular cortex (IC) participates in diverse complex brain functions, including social function, yet their cellular bases remain to be fully understood. Using microendoscopic calcium imaging of the agranular insular cortex (AI) in mice interacting with freely moving and restrained social targets, we identified 2 subsets of AI neurons-a larger fraction of "Social-ON" cells and a smaller fraction of "Social-OFF" cells-that change their activity in opposite directions during social exploration. Social-ON cells included those that represented social investigation independent of location and consisted of multiple subsets, each of which was preferentially active during exploration under a particular behavioral state or with a particular target of physical contact. These results uncover a previously unknown function of AI neurons that may act to monitor the ongoing status of social exploration while an animal interacts with unfamiliar conspecifics.
Keyphrases
- mental health
- healthcare
- induced apoptosis
- artificial intelligence
- spinal cord
- type diabetes
- cell cycle arrest
- oxidative stress
- physical activity
- metabolic syndrome
- signaling pathway
- cell proliferation
- adipose tissue
- skeletal muscle
- brain injury
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- blood brain barrier
- protein kinase
- peripheral blood