A crucial role for the cortical amygdala in shaping social encounters

Antonio V. Aubry, Romain Durand- de Cuttoli, Elizabeth Karpman, Rachel L. Fisher-Foye, Lyonna F. Parise, Flurin Cathomas, C. Joseph Burnett, Yewon Yang, Chongzhen Yuan, Alexa R. LaBanca, Kenny L. Chan, Kion T. Winston, Hsiao-yun Lin, Farah Dackour, Arman A. Tavallaei, Johana Alvarez, Tadaaki Nishioka, Hirofumi Morishita, Robert C. Froemke, Long Li () and Scott J. Russo ()
Additional contact information
Antonio V. Aubry: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Romain Durand- de Cuttoli: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Elizabeth Karpman: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Rachel L. Fisher-Foye: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Lyonna F. Parise: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Flurin Cathomas: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
C. Joseph Burnett: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Yewon Yang: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Chongzhen Yuan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Alexa R. LaBanca: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Kenny L. Chan: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Kion T. Winston: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Hsiao-yun Lin: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Farah Dackour: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Arman A. Tavallaei: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Johana Alvarez: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Tadaaki Nishioka: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Hirofumi Morishita: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Robert C. Froemke: New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Long Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Scott J. Russo: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Nature, 2025, vol. 639, issue 8056, 1006-1015

Abstract: Abstract Aggression is an evolutionarily conserved behaviour that controls social hierarchies and protects valuable resources. In mice, aggressive behaviour can be broken down into an appetitive phase, which involves approach and investigation, and a consummatory phase, which involves biting, kicking and wrestling1. Here, by performing an unsupervised weighted correlation network analysis on whole-brain FOS expression in mice, we identify a cluster of brain regions, including hypothalamic and amygdalar subregions and olfactory cortical regions, that are highly co-activated in male but not in female aggressors. The posterolateral cortical amygdala (COApl)—an extended olfactory structure—was found to be a hub region, on the basis of the number and strength of correlations with other regions in the cluster. Our data also show that oestrogen receptor 1 (Esr1)-expressing cells in the COApl (COAplEsr1) exhibit increased activity during attack behaviour and during bouts of investigation that precede an attack, in male mice only. Chemogenetic or optogenetic inhibition of COAplEsr1 cells in male aggressors reduces aggression and increases pro-social investigation without affecting social reward and reinforcement behaviour. We further show that COAplEsr1 projections to the ventromedial hypothalamus and central amygdala are necessary for these behaviours. Collectively, these data suggest that, in aggressive males, COAplEsr1 cells respond specifically to social stimuli, thereby enhancing their salience and promoting attack behaviour.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08540-4

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