Social Play Behavior Is Critical for the Development of Prefrontal Inhibitory Synapses and Cognitive Flexibility in...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Biology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Early life sensory experiences shape neural circuit development.
• Social play is a prominent behavior during postweaning development in rodents.
• The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is crucial for complex cognitive functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of social play deprivation on prefrontal cortex (PFC) development.
• To determine if social play is essential for establishing proper PFC connectivity.
• To link PFC synaptic changes to adult cognitive performance.

Main Methods:

• Social play deprivation in male rats from postnatal day 21-42.
• Electrophysiological recordings of synaptic currents in medial PFC layer 5 cells.
• Probabilistic reversal learning (PRL) task to assess cognitive function.
• Histological analysis of inhibitory synapses.

Main Results:

• Social play deprivation (SPD) led to reduced inhibitory synaptic currents in the adult PFC.
• A decrease in perisomatic inhibitory synapses from parvalbumin-positive GABAergic cells was observed in SPD rats.
• SPD rats exhibited a simplified strategy and improved performance in the PRL task.
• Partial daily play during SPD partially rescued PRL performance but not PFC synaptic deficits.

Conclusions:

• Unrestricted juvenile social play is vital for the development of PFC inhibitory synapses.
• Social play deprivation has lasting effects on PFC circuitry and cognitive flexibility.
• The relationship between PFC synaptic structure and complex cognitive behaviors is intricate.