Social behaviour shapes hypothalamic neural ensemble representations of conspecific sex.
Social behaviour shapes hypothalamic neural ensemble representations of conspecific sex.
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DOI：
10.1038/nature23885
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发表时间：
2017-10-18
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Anderson DJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Remedios R;Kennedy A;Zelikowsky M;Grewe BF;Schnitzer MJ;Anderson DJ
所有的动物都拥有一套天生的（或本能的）行为，这些行为可以在没有训练的情况下进行。这种行为是否由解剖学上不同的和/或遗传上特定的神经通路介导仍然是一个争论的问题。在这里，我们报告说，下丘脑神经系综表征先天的社会行为是由社会经验。雌激素受体1表达（Esr 1+）神经元腹内侧下丘脑腹外侧亚部（VMHvl）控制啮齿动物的交配和战斗。我们使用显微内窥镜对参与这些社交行为的雄性小鼠的VMHvl Esr 1+神经元活动进行成像。在性和社会经验丰富的成年男性，不同的和特征的神经合奏代表男性与女性同种。但令人惊讶的是，在没有经验的成年男性中，男性和女性入侵者激活了重叠的神经元群体。随着小鼠获得社会和性经验，性别特异性集合逐渐分离。在小鼠允许调查，但不安装或攻击同种，合奏分歧没有发生。然而，30分钟的性经验与女性足以促进男性与女性合奏分离和攻击，测量24小时后。这些观察结果揭示了控制先天社会行为的下丘脑神经组件形成的一个意想不到的社会经验依赖性成分。更一般地说，他们揭示了可塑性和动态编码在一个进化古老的深层皮层下结构，传统上被视为一个“硬连线”系统。
All animals possess a repertoire of innate (or instinctive) behaviors, which can be performed without training. Whether such behaviors are mediated by anatomically distinct and/or genetically specified neural pathways remains a matter of debate. Here we report that hypothalamic neural ensemble representations underlying innate social behaviors are shaped by social experience. Estrogen 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 VMHvl Esr1+ neuronal activity in male mice engaged in these social behaviours. In sexually and socially experienced adult males, divergent and characteristic neural ensembles represented male vs. female conspecifics. But surprisingly, in inexperienced adult males, male and female intruders activated overlapping neuronal populations. Sex-specific ensembles gradually separated as the mice acquired social and sexual experience. In mice permitted to investigate but not mount or attack conspecifics, ensemble divergence did not occur. However, 30 min of sexual experience with a female was sufficient to promote both male vs. female ensemble separation and attack, measured 24 hr later. These observations uncover an unexpected social experience-dependent component to the formation of hypothalamic neural assemblies controlling innate social behaviors. More generally, they reveal plasticity and dynamic coding in an evolutionarily ancient deep subcortical structure that is traditionally viewed as a “hard-wired” system.