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| Poster #261 Olfactory Modulation of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Circuitry: Contribution to Social Behavior in Mice |
| Janardhan P. Bhattarai1, Yingqi Wang1, Yun-Feng Zhang1, Brittany Chapman1, Abby Lieberman1, Omer Zeliger1, Krishna Jaladanki1, David Kedeme1, Atsushi Kamiya2, Wenqin Luo1, Minghong Ma1 1Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States 2Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States |
Social motivation and social recognition are key elements of social cognition, which is crucial for the formation of a structured society. Impairments in social cognition are observed across a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. The anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), a cortical region that receives direct inputs from the olfactory bulb, is a critical hub for social memory in mice. However, the neurocircuitry underlying the AON function in social behavior is not fully understood. Here using CRISPR-CAS9 gene editing technique, we generated a mouse line which allows genetic access to AON neurons and examined their whole-brain projection. We found that AON neurons directly project to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a region that exerts top-down control of social behavior. AON neurons make monosynaptic excitatory inputs onto pyramidal neurons in all layers of mPFC. We further demonstrated that the AON neurons and their axons in the mPFC are active during various behaviors including social investigation. Finally, chemogenetic inhibition of the AON-mPFC pathway impairs social behaviors in mice. Taken together, this study reveals an olfactory-prefrontal circuit that contributes to social cognition in mice. |