Accumbal calcium-permeable AMPA receptors orchestrate neuronal ensembles underlying social attachment.

ABSTRACT: Social attachments are vital to mammalian health, but the neural microcircuitry underlying their formation remains unknown. Using prairie voles-which form lasting pair bonds-we investigate how the microcircuitry of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) transforms social interaction into attachment. We confirm that accumbal calcium-permeable AMPARs (CP-AMPARs) mediate excitation of fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs) in voles, and find that their blockade prevents pair bond formation. To understand the underlying CP-AMPAR-dependent circuit computations, we combine in vivo calcium imaging with local pharmacology. This reveals that social information is differentially encoded at neuronal and ensemble levels, with bonding leading to an emergence of partner-selective ensembles. CP-AMPAR blockade produces a

SUBMITTER: El-Kalliny MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12824225 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature