Science· 2012Q1
A Critical Period for Social Experience–Dependent Oligodendrocyte Maturation and Myelination
- 941citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2012year
Short summary
Social isolation during a specific post-weaning window in mice impairs prefrontal cortex myelination and cognitive function, with deficits persisting even after social reintroduction.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Social isolation between weaning and post-weaning impairs prefrontal cortex myelination in mice.
- These myelin defects and associated cognitive impairments are irreversible, even with later social reintroduction.
- The mechanism involves reduced neuregulin-1 signaling, affecting oligodendrocyte maturation via ErbB3 receptors.
- This establishes a critical period where social experience directly regulates myelination and cognitive development.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Early social isolation results in adult behavioral and cognitive dysfunction that correlates with white matter alterations. However, how social deprivation influences myelination and the significance of these myelin defects in the adult remained undefined. We show that mice isolated for 2 weeks immediately after weaning have alterations in prefrontal cortex function and myelination that do not recover with reintroduction into a social environment. These alterations, which occur only during this critical period, are phenocopied by loss of oligodendrocyte ErbB3 receptors, and social isolation leads to reduced expression of the ErbB3 ligand neuregulin-1. These findings indicate that social experience regulates prefrontal cortex myelination through neuregulin-1/ErbB3 signaling and that this is essential for normal cognitive function, thus providing a cellular and molecular context to understand the consequences of social isolation.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science, 2012 · DOI ↗
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Field: Developmental Neuroscience
Developmental NeuroscienceNeuroscience