Social recognition memory (SRM) enables the distinction between familiar and strange conspecifics, a fundamental ability for sociable species, such as rodents and humans. There is mounting evidence that the medial prefrontal cortex plays a prominent role both in shaping social behavior and in recognition memory. Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, and activity of its ionotropic receptors is known to mediate both synaptic plasticity and consolidation of various types of memories. However, whether these receptors are required in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) for SRM consolidation remains elusive. To address this issue, we submitted rats to a social discrimination paradigm, administered infusions of NMDA- and AMPA/kainate-receptors antagonists into the prelimbic (PrL) subdivision of the mPFC at different post-encoding time points and evaluated long-term memory retention twenty-four hours later. We found that blocking NMDA receptors immediately after the sample phase, but not 3 h later, impaired SRM consolidation, whereas the blockade of AMPA/kainate receptors immediately and 3 h, but not 6 h after the sample phase, prevented long-term memory consolidation. These results highlight the importance of the mPFC in social cognition and may contribute towards the understanding of the dysfunctional social information processing that underlies multiple neuropsychiatric disorders.

中文翻译：

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内侧前额叶皮层NMDA和AMPA /海藻酸谷氨酸受体参与社会认知记忆巩固。

社会识别记忆（SRM）可以区分熟悉的物种和陌生的物种，这是诸如啮齿动物和人类等社交物种的基本能力。越来越多的证据表明，内侧前额叶皮层在塑造社交行为和识别记忆方面均起着重要作用。谷氨酸是大脑中主要的兴奋性神经递质，其离子受体的活性可介导突触可塑性和各种记忆的巩固。但是，是否需要这些受体在内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）中进行SRM合并尚不清楚。为了解决这个问题，我们将老鼠置于一种社会歧视范式下，在不同的编码后时间点将NMDA和AMPA /海藻酸酯受体拮抗剂输注到mPFC的前缘（PrL）细分中，并在24小时后评估长期记忆保留。我们发现，在样品阶段后立即阻止NMDA受体，而不是3小时后，会损害SRM整合，而在样品相之后立即和3小时而不是6小时，对AMPA /海藻酸酯受体的阻断会阻止长期记忆整合。这些结果凸显了mPFC在社交认知中的重要性，并且可能有助于理解导致多种神经精神疾病的功能失调的社交信息处理。我们发现，在样品阶段后立即阻止NMDA受体，而不是3小时后，会损害SRM整合，而在样品相之后立即和3小时而不是6小时，对AMPA /海藻酸酯受体的阻断会阻止长期记忆整合。这些结果凸显了mPFC在社交认知中的重要性，并且可能有助于理解导致多种神经精神疾病的功能失调的社交信息处理。我们发现，在样品阶段后立即阻止NMDA受体，而不是3小时后，会损害SRM整合，而在样品相之后立即和3小时而不是6小时，对AMPA /海藻酸酯受体的阻断会阻止长期记忆整合。这些结果凸显了mPFC在社交认知中的重要性，并且可能有助于理解导致多种神经精神疾病的功能失调的社交信息处理。