Topic: social recognition memory

In the realm of memory, environmental lighting exerts significant influence, impacting various cognitive processes such as fear and object memory. Within this context, our laboratory has previously conducted research demonstrating that brief exposure to light adversely affects social recognition memory (SRM) in mice. Specifically, we found that light exposure hampers the activity of oxytocin neurons located in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) through a pathway involving M1 SON-projecting intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) and GABAergic neurons situated in the perinuclear

Sleep deprivation (SD) detrimentally affects hippocampal-dependent memories, notably spatial and fear memories. However, its effect on social recognition memory — crucial for identifying conspecifics, remains unexplored. To address this, we developed a novel protocol to study the effects of SD on long-term social recognition memory (SRM) in adult male C57BL/6J mice. Our study revealed that 6 hours of SD, following a socialization trial, caused amnesia when SRM was assessed 24 hours later.Next, we investigated whether SD causes permanent loss or suboptimal storage of SRM. We employed mouse mode

Dysregulation of social motivation can lead to social maladjustment, relationship degradation, and is common in many neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism or depression. It is thus very important to better understand the neurobiological substrate underlying this dysregulation of motivation. The Subthalamic Nucleus (STN) has been shown to be a crucial brain region to regulate motivation and emotions. STN lesions induce impairments in various aspects of social behavior in rats, including reduced motivation for rewarding positive ultrasonic vocalizations (USV), non-recognition of emotional vo