Extended Data Fig. 1. c-Fos mapping of cortical and sub-cortical regions upon social exposure.
(A) (left) Mice were exposed in a 3-chamber apparatus for 10 min to either a novel mouse (social:S) under a wire corral, a novel object (object:O) under a wire corral, or kept in their home cage (HC), and then perfused 90 min after the end of the exposure. Brains were then stained for c-Fos, a marker of neuronal activity. (middle) Among many brain areas, including several areas that are known to be involved in social behavior, the posterior PVT (pPVT) showed significant c-Fos induction in social groups compared with both object and homecage groups. (one-way ANOVA, F2,9=34.02, P=0.636×10−4 followed by a Tukey’s post hoc test: pPVT:, social vs object: **P=0.003, social vs home cage: ****P=0.468×10−4, n=4 biologically independent mice each) *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001. (right) Representative c-Fos staining images from pPVT. Scale bar: 200um. Experimental images were obtained from each 12 mice, a few images per mouse, with similar results obtained. (B) (upper left) mPFC->pPVT projection neurons were labeled by retrobeads injected into the pPVT. Representative images showing (right) beads in layer 5/6 mPFC->pPVT neurons (scale bar: 100um), and (bottom left) beads at injection site in pPVT (scale bar: 200um). Experimental images were obtained from 16 mice, a few images per mice, with similar results obtained. (C) (left) Representative images showing preferential c-Fos induction in mPFC->pPVT neurons by social exposure (Scale bar: 50um, experimental images were obtained from 16 mice, a few images per mice, with similar results obtained), and (right) quantification (one-way ANOVA, F2,13=19.750, P=0.115×10−3, followed by a Tukey’s post hoc test, Social vs object P=0.056, Object vs home cage **P=0.009, Social vs home cage ****P=0.789×10−4: n=6 biologically independent social exposed mice, n=5 biologically independent object exposed mice, n=5 biologically independent home caged mice). PL: prelimbic cortex, IL: infralimbic cortex, cg1/2: cingulate cortex1/2, Pir: Piriform cortex, aPVT: anterior paraventricular thalamus, pPVT: posterior paraventricular thalamus, MD: medial dorsal thalamus, Nac: nucleus accumbens, BLA: basolateral amygdala, LA: lateral amygdala, CeA: central amygdala, dPAG: dorsal periaqueductal gray, PVN: paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus. Data in A, C are presented as mean +/− s.e.m.