Role of Social Encounter-Induced Activation of Prefrontal Serotonergic Systems in the Abnormal Behaviors of Isolation-Reared Mice

Isolation-reared male rodents show abnormal behaviors such as hyperlocomotion, aggressive behaviors, deficits of prepulse inhibition, and depression-and anxiety-like behaviors, but the neurochemical mechanism for the effects of psychological stress in these animals is not fully understood. This study examined the effects of social interactions between isolation-reared mice and intruder mice on brain monoaminergic systems. A cage was divided into two compartments by a mesh partition to prevent direct physical interactions. The 20-min encounter with an intruder elicited a restless and hyperexcitable state (hyperactivity) in male, but not in female, isolation-reared mice, whereas encounters with a sleeping intruder or a novel object did not. Although the encounter did not affect prefrontal neuronal-activity-marker c-Fos expression, dopamine (DA) levels, or serotonin (5-HT) levels in male group-reared mice or female isolation-reared mice, it increased prefrontal c-Fos expression, DA levels, and 5-HT levels in male isolation-reared mice. Furthermore, encounter-induced increases in c-Fos expression in the dorsal raphe nucleus and ventral tegmental area, but not in the nucleus accumbens shell, were much greater in isolation-reared than group-reared male mice. A 5-HT1A receptor agonist, a metabotropic glutamate 2/3 receptor agonist, and a gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptor agonist attenuated isolation-induced aggressive behaviors and encounter-induced hyperactivity, c-Fos expression in the prefrontal cortex and dorsal raphe nucleus, and increases in prefrontal 5-HT levels. These findings suggest that the prefrontal DA and 5-HT systems are activated by encounter stimulation in male isolation-reared mice, and the encounter-induced activation of 5-HT system triggers the induction of some abnormal behaviors in male isolation-reared mice. Furthermore, this study implies that the encounter stimulation-induced signal has a pharmacological significance.