Adolescent blockade of complement signaling in the lateral septum increases social novelty seeking behavior in male mice
Social behaviors are critical for survival and change dramatically over the lifespan. Adolescence is a critical period of development during which social novelty seeking peaks before declining into adulthood. Adolescence is also a time of pronounced neural circuit refinement as excess synapses are eliminated. One critical mechanism supporting this maturation of neural circuits is microglial…
Adolescent social novelty seeking behavior in male mice can be enhanced by blocking complement signaling in the lateral septum, according to new research. The lateral septum plays a crucial role in the neural circuitry that supports social novelty preference. During adolescence, microglial pruning of synapses through the complement cascade is critical for the maturation of these neural circuits.
However, the specific impact of complement-dependent microglial synaptic elimination on the development of social novelty preference has been unclear. To investigate this, researchers injected neutrophil inhibitory factor (NIF) into the lateral septum of male mice during adolescence. The findings revealed that NIF administration increased the preference for a novel social chamber over a familiar one, as compared to control PBS treatment.
Importantly, NIF treatment did not affect anxiety-like behavior or sociability in mice. Additionally, the researchers observed that LS-NIF treatment decreased the expression of immune-related genes in the lateral septum. These results suggest that complement-dependent microglial synaptic elimination in the lateral septum is essential for the developmental progression of social novelty seeking behavior in male mice.
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