New study identifies brain region that can prevent aggressive social behavior and induce pro social behavior
2025-02-12
(Press-News.org)
**MEDIA ADVISORY**
UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL: Wednesday, February 12 at 11am EST
Nature article entitled:
A critical role for the cortical amygdala in shaping social encounters
[https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08540-4]
Bottom Line: Neural activity in the cortical amygdala determines whether mice engage in aggressive or pro-social behavior
Results: By performing a network analysis on whole-brain activity of male mice, we identified the cortical amygdala – an olfactory cortical structure – as a key brain region in promoting aggression. This brain region is activated by olfactory cues from male mice and by aggressive behavior. Inhibiting the cortical amygdala reduces aggressive behavior and induces pro-social behavior.
Why the Research Is Interesting: This is the first study that identified a brain region that can prevent aggressive social behavior and induce pro social behavior.
Study Conclusions: Cells in the cortical amygdala respond specifically to male social stimuli thereby enhancing their salience and promoting attack behaviour.
First Author: Antonio Aubry, PhD
Senior Author: Scott Russo, PhD
Said Mount Sinai's Dr. Aubry of the research: “Aggression is an evolutionarily conserved behavior that controls social hierarchies and protects valuable resources. However, aggression can become maladaptive and pose threats to patients and caregivers. Modeling and understanding the behavioral etiology of aggressive behavior is therefore a health priority. In order to discover novel brain regions which are involved in aggression behavior, we performed a network analysis on brain wide activity at the single cell level. This analysis identified the cortical amygdala, an olfactory cortical structure, as a key brain region in promoting aggression. This brain region is activated by olfactory cues from male mice and by aggressive behavior. Importantly, we found that inhibiting the cortical amygdala and it’s downstream circuits reduces aggressive behavior and induces pro-social behavior."
Keywords: Social behavior, aggression, cortical amygdala
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2025-02-12
Recognition of telehealth as an effective strategy for delivering treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) has raised hopes for improving access to this treatment in settings with limited transportation or when time constraints compromise regular use of consistent access to in-person substance use treatment.
But the findings from a team of researchers from the Virginia Center for Health Innovation, UCLA, RAND, and MedInsight, Milliman Inc., suggest that the promise of telehealth may vary by insurance and geography.
New research suggests that people who live ...
2025-02-12
Monash research could transform how broken bones are treated, with the development of a special zinc-based dissolvable material that could replace the metal plates and screws typically used to hold fractured bones together.
Surgeons routinely use stainless steel or titanium, which stay in the body forever, can cause discomfort and may require follow-up surgeries. A new zinc alloy, designed by Monash biomedical engineers, could solve these problems by being mechanically strong but gentle enough to degrade safely over time while supporting optimal healing.
A study published today in Nature shows the research team’s innovative ...
2025-02-12
An increase in high-fat, high-fructose foods in people’s diets has contributed to a dramatic increase in type 2 diabetes. This, in turn, has led to an increase in peripheral neuropathy — nerve damage, typically in the hands and feet — that causes weakness, loss of sensation and, in some, a stabbing, burning, or tingling pain. About half of people with type 2 diabetes are affected, and of these, about half experience severe neuropathic pain.
The damage begins as axons from sensory neurons begin to retract and disappear from the tissues they innervate. New research from the lab of Clifford Woolf, MB, BCh, PhD, director ...
2025-02-12
A research team led by Professor WANG Min from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered two bird fossils in Jurassic-era rocks from Fujian Province in southeast China. These rocks date back approximately 149 million years. The fossils fill a spatiotemporal gap in the early evolutionary history of birds and provide the evidence yet that birds were diversified by the end of the Jurassic period.
This study was published in Nature.
Birds ...
2025-02-12
Yogurt, which contains live strains of bacteria, is thought to protect against many types of diseases, with some reports indicating it could reduce risk of colorectal cancer. A new study led by investigators from Mass General Brigham finds that yogurt consumption over time may protect against colorectal cancer through changes in the gut microbiome. Using data from studies that have followed participants for decades, researchers found that long-term consumption of two or more servings per week of yogurt was tied to lower rates of proximal colorectal cancer positive ...
2025-02-12
University of Virginia Cancer Center researchers have explained the failure of immune checkpoint therapy for ovarian cancer by discovering how gut bacteria interfere with the treatment. Doctors may be able to use the findings to overcome this treatment failure and save the lives of thousands of women every year.
The new discovery, from the lab of UVA’s Melanie Rutkowski, PhD, speaks to the surprising ways that the microbiome – the collection of organisms that live on and inside our bodies – is vital not only to ...
2025-02-12
“Our results suggest that forensic applications of DNAm clocks using non-blood tissue types will provide age estimates that are not as accurate as predictions based on blood, especially if using clocks algorithms trained on blood samples.”
BUFFALO, NY—February 12, 2025 — A new research paper was published in Aging (Aging-US) on January 3, 2025, in Volume 17, Issue 1, titled “Characterization of DNA methylation clock algorithms applied to diverse tissue types.”
Researchers ...
2025-02-12
SAN ANTONIO — February 12, 2025 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists are studying Saturn’s moon Titan to assess its tidal dissipation rate, the energy lost as it orbits the ringed planet with its massive gravitational force. Understanding tidal dissipation helps scientists infer many other things about Titan, such as the makeup of its inner core and its orbital history.
“When most people think of tides they think of the movement of the oceans, in and out, with the passage of the Moon overhead, said Dr. Brynna Downey. “But that is just because water moves ...
2025-02-12
To effectively present the uncertainty of convective-scale weather forecasts, convective-scale ensemble prediction systems have been developed at major operational centers, whose lateral boundary conditions are usually provided by global numerical weather models. Recently, the emergence of AI weather models has provided a new approach to driving convective-scale ensemble prediction systems. AI weather models can produce forecasts for the next 7 to 10 days in just a few minutes, which is around 10,000 times faster than numerical weather models. However, the performance of using the ...
2025-02-12
WASHINGTON—Donald Patrick McDonnell, Ph.D., has been awarded the Endocrine Society’s John D. Baxter Prize for Entrepreneurship for discovering hormone therapies for treating breast and prostate cancer, the Society announced today.
The John D. Baxter Prize for Entrepreneurship was established to recognize the extraordinary achievement of bringing an idea, product, service, or process to market. This work ultimately elevates the field of endocrinology and positively impacts the health of patients.
McDonnell is a professor at Duke University School ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] New study identifies brain region that can prevent aggressive social behavior and induce pro social behavior
