Differences in Inter-Individual Neural Synchronization and Social Behavior in a Mouse Model of Autism

Abstract

Classic studies of social behavior primarily focus on the neural mechanisms mediating one individual’s behavioral processes. However, increasing evidence suggests that brain to brain coupling mechanisms play a role in social behavior as well. Nevertheless, much remains unknown about the neural substrates involved in this coupling and whether there is an association between disruptions in inter-individual brain synchronization and behavioral pathologies. The present study attempts to further our understanding by leveraging a valproic acid (VPA) mouse model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to investigate the relationship between social behavior and inter-individual neural synchronization in the neocortex. To this end, we used a paired mesoscale imaging paradigm to simultaneously capture population-level cortical neural activity during interactions between pairs of awake, head-fixed mice. To explore the relationship between neural activity and behavior, we captured social behavior immediately post-imaging using a paired sociability assay. Significantly, we found that in utero VPA exposure disrupted the number of social interactions and inter-individual neural synchronization between paired mice. Additionally, we found that the number of social interactions as well as inter-individual neural synchronization between paired mice were influenced by the time paired together. Separately, we also noted that the sex affected the duration of social interactions --- opposite sex pairings interacted for a longer duration. Taken together, this study provides preliminary evidence that inter-individual neural synchronization may be an important mediator of social behavior. Moreover, this study suggests that disruptions in inter-individual neural synchronization could be implicated in behavioral pathologies such as ASD.