In a recent study published in Nature, researchers identified a brain structure responsible for a specific memory, namely, the socially acquired food preference, in mice. This explains how social communication helps in creating a long term memory in the brain regarding the interaction.
The primary investigator of this study was coming from Stanford University and studied the so called social transmission of food preference “STFP” which may also be studied in combination with TIFP. In STFP, a mouse observes another mouse which has recently consumed food and subsequently ends up eating the same food. Such social learning induces the formation of a lasting memory for feeding for more than several months.
The study also revealed that the said memories of food acquired socially are also consolidated in the intelligence apparatus region called the posteromedial cortical amygdala/calcarine area (COApm). After such “STFP” training, when the COApm neurons of the given subjects were turned off, they were unable to form stable long-term memories regarding the food in question. Fortunately, turning off the COApm did not prevent the recollection and formation, learning of the memory but hampered conversion of such an experience into memory consolidation.
The COApm: A Center of Operations on Activity Dependent Memory Processing
Lead author Dr. Zhihui Liu explained, “Our studies show that the COApm is a computational center that is able to assimilate social and sensory data in order for long-lasting memories to be formed.” “It looks to be more involved selectively in the consolidation phase of the memory formation process.”
They employed the newest technologies such as chemogenetics, viral tracing and single cell RNA sequencing to investigate the neural circuits and gene expression changes. It has been found out that in the COApm, about half of its neurons connect with both the accessory olfactory bulb, which is responsible for social odor cues, and the anterior olfactory nucleus, which is primarily an odor memory processing site.
Interestingly, successful STFP training berserked most gene expression patterns in COApm neurons including those related to synaptic plasticity. This means that some sort of synaptic restructuring is involved in the process of consolidation in this region of the brain.
“One such encoded internal narrative in the form of an externally perceptive realization happens to be this particular modulation of the short term social memory into a more everlasting store,” expressed senior author Thomas Südhof. “That plays a role in how we understand the model of the society’s memory construction in regard to their social content.”
These might be relevant to understanding the impact of social memory on autism. The authors expect this research to stimulate additional inquiries about how the brain puts together the pieces from the social world during memory encoding in health and in pathology.
Performed in mice, the work nonetheless offers critical understanding of a problem of central importance for memory consolidation, one that can be studied in multiple species. It illustrates the intricate neural mechanisms responsible for the ability of social learning and the formation of enduring memories that ultimately determine behavior.
