Sexually dimorphic control of affective state processing and empathic behaviors

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Animal Behavior
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Successful social interactions rely on recognizing and responding to others' affective states.
• Mechanisms of affective state expression, perception, and influence on social decisions remain poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how distress is communicated via olfactory cues in mice.
• To identify the neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying sex differences in empathic responses to distress.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of olfactory cues emitted by distressed male and female mice.
• Neural circuit tracing in the piriform cortex (PiC) and its downstream targets (PrL, MeA).
• Behavioral assays to assess empathic responses in male and female observers.

Main Results:

• Distinct olfactory cues are emitted by male and female mice experiencing distress.
• These cues activate specific neural pathways: PiC → PrL in females (social preference) and PiC → MeA in males (self-grooming).
• The activated PiC neuron populations exhibit distinct gene expression profiles influenced by sex hormones.

Conclusions:

• Internal states are processed via sexually dimorphic molecular, cellular, and circuit-level mechanisms.
• This study provides insights into the neural basis of sex differences in empathy and higher brain functions.