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September 11, 2014

California Institute of Technology

Antagonistic neuron populations in the mouse amygdala that controlwhether the animal engages in social behaviors or asocial repetitive self-grooming have been recently discovered by researchers. Dubbed a'seesaw circuit,' this discovery may have implications for understandingneural circuit dysfunctions that underlie autism in humans.

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Tipping the balance of behavior: Neurons found that control socialbehavior may have implications for autism

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H

An illustration of the seesaw circuit, showing an antagonistic relationship betweenthe "social" neurons and "asocial" neurons in the mouse amygdala.

umans with autism often show a reduced frequency of socialinteractions and an increased tendency to engage in repetitive solitarybehaviors. Autism has also been linked to dysfunction of the amygdala,

a brain structure involved in processing emotions. Now Caltech researchershave discovered antagonistic neuron populations in the mouse amygdala thatcontrol whether the animal engages in social behaviors or asocial repetitiveself-grooming. This discovery may have implications for understanding neuralcircuit dysfunctions that underlie autism in humans.

This discovery, which is like a "seesaw circuit," wasled by postdoctoral scholar Weizhe Hong in thelaboratory of David J. Anderson, the Seymour BenzerProfessor of Biology at Caltech and an investigatorwith the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The workwas published online on September 11 in the journalCell.

"We know that there is some hierarchy of behaviors,and they interact with each other because the animal

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can't exhibit both social and asocial behaviors at thesame time. In this study, we wanted to figure out howthe brain does that," Anderson says.

Anderson and his colleagues discovered twointermingled but distinct populations of neurons in theamygdala, a part of the brain that is involved in innatesocial behaviors. One population promotes socialbehaviors, such as mating, fighting, or social grooming, while the other populationcontrols repetitive self-grooming -- an asocial behavior.

Interestingly, these two populations are distinguished according to the mostfundamental subdivision of neuron subtypes in the brain: the "social neurons" areinhibitory neurons (which release the neurotransmitter GABA, or gamma-aminobutyricacid), while the "self-grooming neurons" are excitatory neurons (which release theneurotransmitter glutamate, an amino acid).

To study the relationship between these two cell types and their associated behaviors,the researchers used a technique called optogenetics. In optogenetics, neurons aregenetically altered so that they express light-sensitive proteins from microbialorganisms. Then, by shining a light on these modified neurons via a tiny fiber opticcable inserted into the brain, researchers can control the activity of the cells as well astheir associated behaviors.

Using this optogenetic approach, Anderson's team was able to selectively switch onthe neurons associated with social behaviors and those linked with asocial behaviors.

With the social neurons, the behavior that was elicited depended upon the intensity ofthe light signal. That is, when high-intensity light was used, the mice becameaggressive in the presence of an intruder mouse. When lower-intensity light was used,the mice no longer attacked, although they were still socially engaged with the intruder-- either initiating mating behavior or attempting to engage in social grooming.

When the neurons associated with asocial behavior were turned on, the mouse beganself-grooming behaviors such as paw licking and face grooming while completelyignoring all intruders. The self-grooming behavior was repetitive and lasted for minuteseven after the light was turned off.

The researchers could also use the light-activated neurons to stop the mice fromengaging in particular behaviors. For example, if a lone mouse began spontaneouslyself-grooming, the researchers could halt this behavior through the optogeneticactivation of the social neurons. Once the light was turned off and the activationstopped, the mouse would return to its self-grooming behavior.

Surprisingly, these two groups of neurons appear to interfere with each other'sfunction: the activation of social neurons inhibits self-grooming behavior, while theactivation of self-grooming neurons inhibits social behavior. Thus these two groups ofneurons seem to function like a seesaw, one that controls whether mice interact withothers or instead focus on themselves. It was completely unexpected that the twogroups of neurons could be distinguished by whether they were excitatory or inhibitory.

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"If there was ever an experiment that 'carves nature at its joints,'" says Anderson, "thisis it."

This seesaw circuit, Anderson and his colleagues say, may have some relevance tohuman behavioral disorders such as autism.

"In autism," Anderson says, "there is a decrease in social interactions, and there isoften an increase in repetitive, sometimes asocial or self-oriented, behaviors" -- aphenomenon known as perseveration. "Here, by stimulating a particular set of neurons,we are both inhibiting social interactions and promoting these perseverative, persistentbehaviors."

Studies from other laboratories have shown that disruptions in genes implicated inautism show a similar decrease in social interaction and increase in repetitive self-grooming behavior in mice, Anderson says. However, the current study helps toprovide a needed link between gene activity, brain activity, and social behaviors, "and ifyou don't understand the circuitry, you are never going to understand how the genemutation affects the behavior." Going forward, he says, such a complete understandingwill be necessary for the development of future therapies.

But could this concept ever actually be used to modify a human behavior?

"All of this is very far away, but if you found the right population of neurons, it might bepossible to override the genetic component of a behavioral disorder like autism, by justchanging the activity of the circuits -- tipping the balance of the see-saw in the otherdirection," he says.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by California Institute ofTechnology. The original article was written by Jessica Stoller-Conrad. Note:Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

1. Weizhe Hong, Dong-Wook Kim, David J. Anderson. Antagonistic Control ofSocial versus Repetitive Self-Grooming Behaviors by Separable AmygdalaNeuronal Subsets. Cell, 2014; 158 (6): 1348 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.07.049

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