Social memory deficit caused by dysregulation of the cerebellar vermis

Owen Y. Chao, Salil Saurav Pathak, Hao Zhang, George J. Augustine, Jason M. Christie, Chikako Kikuchi, Hiroki Taniguchi and Yi-Mei Yang ()
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Owen Y. Chao: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School
Salil Saurav Pathak: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School
Hao Zhang: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School
George J. Augustine: Nanyang Technological University
Jason M. Christie: University of Colorado School of Medicine
Chikako Kikuchi: Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
Hiroki Taniguchi: Department of Pathology, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Yi-Mei Yang: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract Social recognition memory (SRM) is a key determinant of social interactions. While the cerebellum emerges as an important region for social behavior, how cerebellar activity affects social functions remains unclear. We selectively increased the excitability of molecular layer interneurons (MLIs) to suppress Purkinje cell firing in the mouse cerebellar vermis. Chemogenetic perturbation of MLIs impaired SRM without affecting sociability, anxiety levels, motor coordination or object recognition. Optogenetic interference of MLIs during distinct phases of a social recognition test revealed the cerebellar engagement in the retrieval, but not encoding, of social information. c-Fos mapping after the social recognition test showed that cerebellar manipulation decreased brain-wide interregional correlations and altered network structure from medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus-centered to amygdala-centered modules. Anatomical tracing demonstrated hierarchical projections from the central cerebellum to the social brain network integrating amygdalar connections. Our findings suggest that the cerebellum organizes the neural matrix necessary for SRM.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41744-2

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