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▎Editor of WuXi AppTec's content team In the laboratory, a mouse had just "come home from work"
.
It has experienced some irritation (such as a slight electric shock, or forced to swim), and the pressure is high at the moment
.
The other mouse in "Home" is a roommate who has been with it for several weeks, and is very familiar with each other
.
Now, the mouse as a roommate quickly felt the anxiety of his companions, and it quickly leaned forward and began to groom and lick the fur of the mice returning home
.
This kind of friendly physical contact has an effective comforting effect
.
The researchers found that after being groomed and licked, the mice's anxiety level was greatly reduced
.
▲The pressure-stimulated mice received frequent grooming from their peers after returning to "home" (picture source: reference [1]) This scene took place in the laboratory of Professor Weizhe Hong at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), researchers Researching why animals would comfort anxious companions
.
Recently, their research results were published in the top academic journal "Nature"
.
Mice, like many other mammals and birds, will make allorooming actions when their companions are stimulated.
In the words of the researchers, this is a “prosocial interaction” (prosocial interaction)
.
In human society, pro-social interactions are more common.
For example, patting, touching, and hugging are all actions that we often provide spiritual comfort to others; of course, human beings have more complicated things such as sharing, donation, and even self-sacrifice.
Pro-social behaviors that benefit others
.
To understand why humans make such complex decisions, neuroscientists decided to start by deciphering the neural basis of animals grooming each other's hair
.
▲Professor Weizhe Hong, the corresponding author of this study, is dedicated to studying the neural mechanisms behind social behavior (picture source: UCLA official website).
In the above experiment, the researchers found that for mice with a strong sense of smell, they rely on "smell" Perceive the other's anxiety with the smell of your partner
.
If the odor of stress is transferred to an unstimulated mouse through a swab, the latter will also get the treatment of being groomed by the companion
.
Next, the researchers used microendoscopic calcium imaging technology to find the brain area of the mouse that codes for the other party's grooming behavior, the medial amygdala (MeA)
.
One of the functions of this brain area is to process socially significant olfactory stimuli.
When the companion is not anxious and anxious, the MeA neural activity of mice has significant changes
.
Further studying the functions of different types of neurons in MeA through optogenetics and other technologies, the researchers identified a group of special neurons that play a key role
.
The characteristics of these neurons include the use of inhibitory GABA as a neurotransmitter, the expression of the neuropeptide Tac1, and the transmission of signals to the medial preoptic area (mPOA) of the hypothalamus
.
When the activity of this small group of neurons is artificially inhibited, the mice will suddenly stop comforting their companions; and once this group of neurons is artificially activated, the mice will groom their companions more actively, even when the companions are not stressed.
To caress each other
.
▲Humans will also relieve their anxiety by giving other physical hairs to themselves.
This may be another unsolved mystery? (Image source: 123RF) Combining these findings, the researchers revealed from the most basic neurobiological level how mice conduct pro-social interactions, and ultimately help their peers to relieve stress
.
The series of processes found in the brain of mice may be different from those of humans.
After all, our behavior may depend more on acquired learning, and the role of smell is not as important as in mice.
However, humans also show similar behaviors.
The behavioral tendency to care for and comfort one's peers, perhaps the neural circuits that control humans to help each other are not so unique
.
Reference: [1] Ye Emily Wu et al.
, (2021) Neural control of affiliative touch in prosocial interaction.
Nature.
Doi: 10.
1038/s41586-021-03962-w
.
It has experienced some irritation (such as a slight electric shock, or forced to swim), and the pressure is high at the moment
.
The other mouse in "Home" is a roommate who has been with it for several weeks, and is very familiar with each other
.
Now, the mouse as a roommate quickly felt the anxiety of his companions, and it quickly leaned forward and began to groom and lick the fur of the mice returning home
.
This kind of friendly physical contact has an effective comforting effect
.
The researchers found that after being groomed and licked, the mice's anxiety level was greatly reduced
.
▲The pressure-stimulated mice received frequent grooming from their peers after returning to "home" (picture source: reference [1]) This scene took place in the laboratory of Professor Weizhe Hong at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), researchers Researching why animals would comfort anxious companions
.
Recently, their research results were published in the top academic journal "Nature"
.
Mice, like many other mammals and birds, will make allorooming actions when their companions are stimulated.
In the words of the researchers, this is a “prosocial interaction” (prosocial interaction)
.
In human society, pro-social interactions are more common.
For example, patting, touching, and hugging are all actions that we often provide spiritual comfort to others; of course, human beings have more complicated things such as sharing, donation, and even self-sacrifice.
Pro-social behaviors that benefit others
.
To understand why humans make such complex decisions, neuroscientists decided to start by deciphering the neural basis of animals grooming each other's hair
.
▲Professor Weizhe Hong, the corresponding author of this study, is dedicated to studying the neural mechanisms behind social behavior (picture source: UCLA official website).
In the above experiment, the researchers found that for mice with a strong sense of smell, they rely on "smell" Perceive the other's anxiety with the smell of your partner
.
If the odor of stress is transferred to an unstimulated mouse through a swab, the latter will also get the treatment of being groomed by the companion
.
Next, the researchers used microendoscopic calcium imaging technology to find the brain area of the mouse that codes for the other party's grooming behavior, the medial amygdala (MeA)
.
One of the functions of this brain area is to process socially significant olfactory stimuli.
When the companion is not anxious and anxious, the MeA neural activity of mice has significant changes
.
Further studying the functions of different types of neurons in MeA through optogenetics and other technologies, the researchers identified a group of special neurons that play a key role
.
The characteristics of these neurons include the use of inhibitory GABA as a neurotransmitter, the expression of the neuropeptide Tac1, and the transmission of signals to the medial preoptic area (mPOA) of the hypothalamus
.
When the activity of this small group of neurons is artificially inhibited, the mice will suddenly stop comforting their companions; and once this group of neurons is artificially activated, the mice will groom their companions more actively, even when the companions are not stressed.
To caress each other
.
▲Humans will also relieve their anxiety by giving other physical hairs to themselves.
This may be another unsolved mystery? (Image source: 123RF) Combining these findings, the researchers revealed from the most basic neurobiological level how mice conduct pro-social interactions, and ultimately help their peers to relieve stress
.
The series of processes found in the brain of mice may be different from those of humans.
After all, our behavior may depend more on acquired learning, and the role of smell is not as important as in mice.
However, humans also show similar behaviors.
The behavioral tendency to care for and comfort one's peers, perhaps the neural circuits that control humans to help each other are not so unique
.
Reference: [1] Ye Emily Wu et al.
, (2021) Neural control of affiliative touch in prosocial interaction.
Nature.
Doi: 10.
1038/s41586-021-03962-w
