Journal
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 20, Issue 3, Pages 459-469Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nn.4481
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Simons Foundation [283746]
- National Institutes of Health [R01MH084970]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Adaptive social behavior requires transmission and reception of salient social information. Impairment of this reciprocity is a cardinal symptom of autism. The amygdala is a critical mediator of social behavior and is implicated in social symptoms of autism. Here we found that a specific amygdala circuit, from the lateral nucleus to the medial nucleus (LA-MeA), is required for using social cues to learn about environmental cues that signal imminent threats. Disruption of the LA-MeA circuit impaired valuation of these environmental cues and subsequent ability to use a cue to guide behavior. Rats with impaired social guidance of behavior due to knockout of Nrxn1, an analog of autism-associated gene NRXN, exhibited marked LA-MeA deficits. Chemogenetic activation of this circuit reversed these impaired social behaviors. These findings identify an amygdala circuit required to guide emotional responses to socially significant cues and identify an exploratory target for disorders associated with social impairments.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available