Neonatal Whisker Trimming Impairs Fear/Anxiety-Related Emotional Systems of the Amygdala and Social Behaviors in Adult Mice.
Abnormalities in tactile perception, such as sensory defensiveness, are common features in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While not a diagnostic criterion for ASD, deficits in tactile perception contribute to the observed lack of social communication skills. However, the influence of tactile percep...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2016-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4928826?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1819021475378626560 |
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| author | Hitomi Soumiya Ayumi Godai Hiromi Araiso Shingo Mori Shoei Furukawa Hidefumi Fukumitsu |
| author_facet | Hitomi Soumiya Ayumi Godai Hiromi Araiso Shingo Mori Shoei Furukawa Hidefumi Fukumitsu |
| author_sort | Hitomi Soumiya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abnormalities in tactile perception, such as sensory defensiveness, are common features in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While not a diagnostic criterion for ASD, deficits in tactile perception contribute to the observed lack of social communication skills. However, the influence of tactile perception deficits on the development of social behaviors remains uncertain, as do the effects on neuronal circuits related to the emotional regulation of social interactions. In neonatal rodents, whiskers are the most important tactile apparatus, so bilateral whisker trimming is used as a model of early tactile deprivation. To address the influence of tactile deprivation on adult behavior, we performed bilateral whisker trimming in mice for 10 days after birth (BWT10 mice) and examined social behaviors, tactile discrimination, and c-Fos expression, a marker of neural activation, in adults after full whisker regrowth. Adult BWT10 mice exhibited significantly shorter crossable distances in the gap-crossing test than age-matched controls, indicating persistent deficits in whisker-dependent tactile perception. In contrast to controls, BWT10 mice exhibited no preference for the social compartment containing a conspecific in the three-chamber test. Furthermore, the development of amygdala circuitry was severely affected in BWT10 mice. Based on the c-Fos expression pattern, hyperactivity was found in BWT10 amygdala circuits for processing fear/anxiety-related responses to height stress but not in circuits for processing reward stimuli during whisker-dependent cued learning. These results demonstrate that neonatal whisker trimming and concomitant whisker-dependent tactile discrimination impairment severely disturbs the development of amygdala-dependent emotional regulation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:07:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-17ac154fdbb54802be4e4fef1ae56e52 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:07:42Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-17ac154fdbb54802be4e4fef1ae56e522022-12-21T19:16:32ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-01116e015858310.1371/journal.pone.0158583Neonatal Whisker Trimming Impairs Fear/Anxiety-Related Emotional Systems of the Amygdala and Social Behaviors in Adult Mice.Hitomi SoumiyaAyumi GodaiHiromi AraisoShingo MoriShoei FurukawaHidefumi FukumitsuAbnormalities in tactile perception, such as sensory defensiveness, are common features in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While not a diagnostic criterion for ASD, deficits in tactile perception contribute to the observed lack of social communication skills. However, the influence of tactile perception deficits on the development of social behaviors remains uncertain, as do the effects on neuronal circuits related to the emotional regulation of social interactions. In neonatal rodents, whiskers are the most important tactile apparatus, so bilateral whisker trimming is used as a model of early tactile deprivation. To address the influence of tactile deprivation on adult behavior, we performed bilateral whisker trimming in mice for 10 days after birth (BWT10 mice) and examined social behaviors, tactile discrimination, and c-Fos expression, a marker of neural activation, in adults after full whisker regrowth. Adult BWT10 mice exhibited significantly shorter crossable distances in the gap-crossing test than age-matched controls, indicating persistent deficits in whisker-dependent tactile perception. In contrast to controls, BWT10 mice exhibited no preference for the social compartment containing a conspecific in the three-chamber test. Furthermore, the development of amygdala circuitry was severely affected in BWT10 mice. Based on the c-Fos expression pattern, hyperactivity was found in BWT10 amygdala circuits for processing fear/anxiety-related responses to height stress but not in circuits for processing reward stimuli during whisker-dependent cued learning. These results demonstrate that neonatal whisker trimming and concomitant whisker-dependent tactile discrimination impairment severely disturbs the development of amygdala-dependent emotional regulation.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4928826?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Hitomi Soumiya Ayumi Godai Hiromi Araiso Shingo Mori Shoei Furukawa Hidefumi Fukumitsu Neonatal Whisker Trimming Impairs Fear/Anxiety-Related Emotional Systems of the Amygdala and Social Behaviors in Adult Mice. PLoS ONE |
| title | Neonatal Whisker Trimming Impairs Fear/Anxiety-Related Emotional Systems of the Amygdala and Social Behaviors in Adult Mice. |
| title_full | Neonatal Whisker Trimming Impairs Fear/Anxiety-Related Emotional Systems of the Amygdala and Social Behaviors in Adult Mice. |
| title_fullStr | Neonatal Whisker Trimming Impairs Fear/Anxiety-Related Emotional Systems of the Amygdala and Social Behaviors in Adult Mice. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neonatal Whisker Trimming Impairs Fear/Anxiety-Related Emotional Systems of the Amygdala and Social Behaviors in Adult Mice. |
| title_short | Neonatal Whisker Trimming Impairs Fear/Anxiety-Related Emotional Systems of the Amygdala and Social Behaviors in Adult Mice. |
| title_sort | neonatal whisker trimming impairs fear anxiety related emotional systems of the amygdala and social behaviors in adult mice |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4928826?pdf=render |
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