Multisensory integration of social signals by a pathway from the basal amygdala to the auditory cortex in maternal mice

Nowlan, Alexandra C, Kelahan, Clancy, Shea, Stephen D (February 2022) Multisensory integration of social signals by a pathway from the basal amygdala to the auditory cortex in maternal mice. bioRxiv. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Social encounters are inherently multimodal events, yet how and where social cues of distinct modalities merge and interact in the brain is poorly understood. For example, when their pups wander away from the nest, mother mice use a combination of vocal and olfactory signals emitted by the pups to locate and retrieve them. Previous work revealed the emergence of multisensory interactions in the auditory cortex (AC) of both dams and virgins who co-habitate with pups (‘surrogates’). Here we identify a neural pathway that integrates information about odors with responses to sound. We found that a scattered population of glutamatergic neurons in the basal amygdala (BA) projects to the AC and responds to odors, including the smell of pups. These neurons also exhibit increased activity when the surrogate female is searching for pups. Finally, we show that selective optogenetic activation of BA-AC neurons modulates responses to pup calls, and that this modulation switches from predominantly suppressive to predominantly excitatory after maternal experience. This supports an underappreciated role for the amygdala in directly shaping sensory representations in an experience-dependent manner. We propose that the BA-AC pathway integrates olfaction and audition to facilitate maternal care, and speculate that it may carry valence information to the AC.

Item Type:	Paper
Subjects:	organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > amygdala organism description > animal behavior organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > auditory cortex organism description > animal behavior > maternal neurobiology > neuroscience > multisensory integration neurobiology neurobiology > neuroscience organism description > animal behavior > social
CSHL Authors:	Nowlan, Alexandra C. Shea, Stephen D. Kelahan, Clancy
Communities:	CSHL labs > Shea lab School of Biological Sciences > Publications
SWORD Depositor:	CSHL Elements
Depositing User:	CSHL Elements
Date:	17 February 2022
Date Deposited:	23 Feb 2022 20:30
Last Modified:	29 Feb 2024 19:42
URI:	https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/40525

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