Integrating pheromonal and spatial information in the amygdalo-hippocampal network

María Villafranca-Faus, Manuel Esteban Vila-Martín, Daniel Esteve, Esteban Merino, Anna Teruel-Sanchis, Ana Cervera-Ferri, Joana Martínez-Ricós, Ana Lloret, Enrique Lanuza () and Vicent Teruel-Martí ()
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María Villafranca-Faus: Faculty of Medicine, University de València
Manuel Esteban Vila-Martín: Faculty of Medicine, University de València
Daniel Esteve: University of Valencia, Health Research Institute INCLIVA, CIBERFES
Esteban Merino: Faculty of Medicine, University de València
Anna Teruel-Sanchis: Faculty of Medicine, University de València
Ana Cervera-Ferri: Faculty of Medicine, University de València
Joana Martínez-Ricós: Faculty of Medicine, University de València
Ana Lloret: University of Valencia, Health Research Institute INCLIVA, CIBERFES
Enrique Lanuza: Faculty of Medicine, University de València
Vicent Teruel-Martí: Faculty of Medicine, University de València

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Vomeronasal information is critical in mice for territorial behavior. Consequently, learning the territorial spatial structure should incorporate the vomeronasal signals indicating individual identity into the hippocampal cognitive map. In this work we show in mice that navigating a virtual environment induces synchronic activity, with causality in both directionalities, between the vomeronasal amygdala and the dorsal CA1 of the hippocampus in the theta frequency range. The detection of urine stimuli induces synaptic plasticity in the vomeronasal pathway and the dorsal hippocampus, even in animals with experimentally induced anosmia. In the dorsal hippocampus, this plasticity is associated with the overexpression of pAKT and pGSK3β. An amygdalo-entorhino-hippocampal circuit likely underlies this effect of pheromonal information on hippocampal learning. This circuit likely constitutes the neural substrate of territorial behavior in mice, and it allows the integration of social and spatial information.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25442-5

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