title: c-Fos expression predicts long-term social memory retrieval in mice.
abstract: The way the rodent brain generally processes socially relevant information is rather well understood. How social information is stored into long-term social memory, however, is still under debate. Here, brain c-Fos expression was measured after adult mice were exposed to familiar or novel juveniles and expression was compared in several memory and socially relevant brain areas. Machine Learning algorithm Random Forest was then used to predict the social interaction category of adult mice based on c-Fos expression in these areas. Interaction with a familiar co-specific altered brain activation in the olfactory bulb, amygdala, hippocampus, lateral septum and medial prefrontal cortex. Remarkably, Random Forest was able to predict interaction with a familiar juvenile with 100% accuracy. Activity in the olfactory bulb, amygdala, hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex were crucial to this prediction. From our results, we suggest long-term social memory depends on initial social olfactory processing in the medial amygdala and its output connections synergistically with non-social contextual integration by the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex top-down modulation of primary olfactory structures.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Neurociências, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627-Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Electronic address: luxeredias@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Thomaz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lüscher Dias
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Applied Computing, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana-Av. Transnordestina, S/N, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil; Graduate School of Psychology, Universidade Salgado de Oliveira. Rua Marechal Deodoro 263, Niterói, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Hudson
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fernandes Golino
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Neurociências, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627-Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vinícius Elias Moura de
authors.initials: VEM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Neurociências, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627-Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Márcio Flávio
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Dutra Moraes
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Neurociências, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Av. Pres. Antônio Carlos, 6627-Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schenatto Pereira
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
keywords: Contextual integration; Long-term social memory; Random Forest; Top-down modulation; c-Fos