The marvel of recognizing familiar faces often goes unnoticed, but specialists from the Center for Cognition and Sociality have recently made a remarkable discovery in this area.
The study has shed light on the brain's ability to recognize people, revealing the specific neurons responsible for each individual recognition.
Let's find out more!
The research
Recognizing other individuals is often vital for all social animals, including us, humans, as it helps establish and nurture social connections.
Despite its significance, little was known about the neural mechanisms governing this process in the brain.
To delve into this intriguing aspect of our brain work, the specialists developed a new behavioral model using lab mice.
This paradigm allowed them to investigate the mice's capacity to recognize other mice and understand how the brain processes this information.
During the test, lab mice were conditioned to associate specific individuals with different rewards.
The team then observed the mice's behavior when encountering the reward-associated individuals vs. those with no associations.
Through an advanced two-photon imaging method, the specialists pinpointed the specific neuronal cells within the CA1 region, which is responsible for each individual recognition.
Why is it important?
The newfound knowledge from this research could pave the way for a deeper comprehension of various mental disorders affecting people's social relationships, such as autism.
