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    Home > Active Ingredient News > Study of Nervous System > Neuron|Winner Or Loser? Professor Hailan Hu reveals the micro-loop mechanism of social competition

    Neuron|Winner Or Loser? Professor Hailan Hu reveals the micro-loop mechanism of social competition

    • Last Update: 2021-12-06
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    Click on the blue word to pay attention to us in the animal kingdom mainly through social competition to obtain a good social status and obtain better social resources for high-quality survival
    .

    In the higher cortex area, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is a key brain area that regulates social hierarchy behavior
    .

    The function of the prefrontal cortex is regulated by the excitatory/inhibitory balance mediated by excitatory pyramidal (PYR) neurons and GABAergic interneurons
    .

    Most (80%) cortical interneurons are vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), paralbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SOM) neurons, which encode different information inputs and regulate different behaviors
    .

    On November 18, 2021, Professor Hailan Hu's research group from Zhejiang University School of Medicine published an article revealing that the dorso-medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) brain area PV neurons mediated VIP neurons → pyramidal neurons to inhibit micro-loop regulation of society Victory and failure behavior in competition
    .

    Activating the pyramidal neurons in the dmPFC region promotes victory.
    After activating the pyramidal neurons in the dmPFC region in the drill tube experiment, the mice became more combative (increased pushing behavior and decreased withdrawal behavior).
    The social status of rats has also undergone a fundamental change: counterattack from a lower status to a higher level
    .

    Specific activation of PV neurons can increase the retreat behavior of mice, reduce their social status, and inhibit this type of neurons can increase social rank
    .

    Chemically inhibiting PVrgic neurons or VIPrgic neurons and specifically activating VIPrgic neurons can increase the social rank of mice, and inhibit this type of neuron to reduce the social rank
    .

    This indicates that different types of neurons in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex play different roles in social competition
    .

    Furthermore, through in-vivo fiber optic calcium imaging technology, it was found that in the process of pushing hard in mice, the activity of the pyramidal neurons and VIP neurons increased, and the activities of these two types of neurons decreased during the withdrawal behavior, while the activity of PV neurons decreased regardless of It is widely activated in both pushing and retreating behavior
    .

    In view of the fact that PVrgic neurons and VIPrgic neurons play completely opposite roles in regulating social competition behavior, how do these two types of neurons affect the activity of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex neuron network? The researchers used a high-resolution micro two-photon microscope to record the single-cell level of calcium ions in this brain area.
    After inhibiting PV neurons, the neuronal network activity in this brain area increased, and the neuronal network activity decreased after inhibiting VIP neurons
    .

    This indicates that PV neurons and VIP neurons play inhibitory and excitatory roles in regulating the overall activity of dmPFC brain regions, respectively
    .

    Through 16-channel in-vivo electrophysiological experiments, it was found that 92% of the pyramidal neurons in this brain area were inhibited after light-activated PV neurons, and other intermediate neurons were also inhibited, and the activation of VIP neurons caused pyramidal neurons.
    The two-stage activity pattern of somatic neurons and PV neurons: activation after rapid inhibition
    .

    In general, this article found that in the social competition behavior, after activating the activity of VIP neurons in the brain area of ​​dmPFC or inhibiting PV neurons, the overall neuronal activity in the brain area is enhanced, which promotes mice to fight hard and become winners, while inhibiting After VIP neuron activity or activation of PV neurons, the overall neuronal activity in this brain area is weakened, which promotes the withdrawal behavior of mice and becomes a loser
    .

    [References] https://doi.
    org/10.
    1016/j.
    neuron.
    2021.
    10.
    034 The pictures in the text are from the references 
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