Targeted activation of the hippocampal CA2 area strongly enhances social memory

Social cognition enables individuals to understand others' intentions. Social memory is a necessary component of this process, for without it, subsequent encounters are devoid of any historical information. The CA2 area of the hippocampus, particularly the vasopressin 1b receptor (Avpr1b) expressed there, is necessary for memory formation. We used optogenetics to excite vasopressin terminals, originating from the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, in the CA2 of mice. This markedly enhanced their social memory if the stimulation occurred during memory acquisition, but not retrieval. This effect was blocked by an Avpr1b antagonist. Finally, this enhanced memory is resistant to the social distraction of an introduced second mouse, important for socially navigating populations of individuals. Our results indicate the CA2 can increase the salience of social signals. Targeted pharmacotherapy with Avpr1b agonists or deep brain stimulation of the CA2 are potential avenues of treatment for those with declining social memory as in various dementias.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Molecular Psychiatry

• Publication date

  2015-12-10

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1038/mp.2015.189PMID 26728562PMCID 4935650
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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