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Insular cortex modulates social avoidance of sick rats.
Nathaniel S Rieger1, Nicholas B Worley1, Alexandra J Ng1
1Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467 USA.
Behavioural Brain Research
|August 23, 2021
Summary
Rats avoid sick adults by recognizing illness cues, a behavior dependent on the insular cortex. This neural region is key for appropriate social responses to sickness in conspecifics.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Biology
- Immunology
Background:
- Avoiding sick individuals is crucial for health and preventing disease transmission.
- Social cues, including behaviors and chemosignals, signal sickness.
- Neural mechanisms underlying social responses to sickness are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate neural mechanisms of social avoidance of sick individuals in rats.
- Determine the role of the insular cortex in social responses to sickness.
Main Methods:
- Experimental rats investigated healthy and sick conspecifics.
- Sickness was induced using Polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C).
- Insular cortex was inhibited using muscimol to assess its role.
Main Results:
- Adult rats avoided Poly I:C-treated sick adults but not juveniles.
- Insular cortex inactivation abolished the avoidance of sick adult conspecifics.
Conclusions:
- The insular cortex plays a critical role in social avoidance of sick adults.
- This brain region may encode illness information for situationally appropriate social responses.
