While single-cell transcriptomics in the brain has uncovered a vast diversity of neural cell types in unprecedented detail, it is becoming increasingly urgent to address what exactly their functional roles are in the context of circuits and behavior. In this review, we discuss the molecular profiling of cell types in circuits underlying social behaviors in mice as a prominent case study. We first highlight key roles of molecularly identified sensory and downstream neurons involved in sexually dimorphic behaviors. We then propose future opportunities to define cell types using multimodal criteria, especially gene expression, physiology, as well as the developmental origin, to advance our understanding of these circuits.

中文翻译：

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先天社会行为背后的性二态回路的单细胞分子和发育观点。

虽然大脑中的单细胞转录组学以前所未有的细节揭示了神经细胞类型的巨大多样性，但解决它们在电路和行为背景下的确切功能作用变得越来越紧迫。在这篇综述中，我们作为一个突出的案例研究，讨论了小鼠社会行为背后回路中细胞类型的分子分析。我们首先强调分子识别的感觉和下游神经元在性二态行为中的关键作用。然后，我们提出了使用多模式标准定义细胞类型的未来机会，特别是基因表达、生理学以及发育起源，以促进我们对这些回路的理解。