Research reportLesions of the medial prefrontal cortex enhance social modulation of avoidance

Our previous study showed that social interactions induce inhibitory and facilitatory modulations of avoidance behavior under both safe and dangerous situations in rats. To understand the neural mechanisms for these phenomena, we investigated the effects of bilateral lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) on the social modulation of avoidance behavior. We found that the lesions did not impair but actually augmented both social inhibition and facilitation of avoidance. These results suggest that the mPFC in rodents plays a suppressive role in the social modulation of avoidance.

Research highlights▶ Lesions of mPFC did not affect passive avoidance learning. ▶ Lesions of mPFC produce long-lasting social inhibition of avoidance. ▶ Lesions of mPFC enhance social facilitation of avoidance. ▶ Lesions of mPFC lead to enhance social modulation of avoidance bi-directionally.