The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is well known as the executive center of the brain, combining internal states and goals to execute purposeful behavior, including social actions. With the advancement of tools for monitoring and manipulating neural activity in rodents, substantial progress has been made in understanding the specific cell types and neural circuits within the PFC that are essential for processing social cues and influencing social behaviors. Furthermore, combining these tools with translationally-relevant behavioral paradigms has also provided novel insights into the PFC neural mechanisms that may contribute to social deficits in various psychiatric disorders. This review highlights findings from the past decade that have shed light on the PFC cell types and neural circuits that support social information processing and distinct aspects of social behavior, including social interactions, social memory, and social dominance. We also explore how the PFC contributes to social deficits in rodents induced by social isolation, social fear conditioning, and social status loss. These studies provide evidence that the PFC uses both overlapping and unique neural mechanisms to support distinct components of social cognition. Further, specific PFC neural mechanisms drive social deficits induced by different contexts.

中文翻译：

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社会行为和相关缺陷的前额调节：来自啮齿动物研究的见解

众所周知，前额皮质 (PFC) 是大脑的执行中心，结合内部状态和目标来执行有目的的行为，包括社交行为。随着监测和操纵啮齿动物神经活动的工具的进步，在理解前额皮层内的特定细胞类型和神经回路方面取得了实质性进展，这些细胞类型和神经回路对于处理社交线索和影响社交行为至关重要。此外，将这些工具与翻译相关的行为范式相结合也为 PFC 神经机制提供了新的见解，这些机制可能导致各种精神疾病的社交缺陷。这篇综述重点介绍了过去十年的研究结果，这些发现揭示了支持社会信息处理和社会行为的不同方面（包括社会互动、社会记忆和社会支配地位）的 PFC 细胞类型和神经回路。我们还探讨了 PFC 如何导致啮齿动物因社会孤立、社会恐惧条件反射和社会地位丧失而引起的社会缺陷。这些研究提供的证据表明，前额皮质使用重叠和独特的神经机制来支持社会认知的不同组成部分。此外，特定的 PFC 神经机制会导致不同环境引起的社交缺陷。