The effects of social environment on AD-related pathology in hAPP-J20 mice and tau-P301L mice.

In humans, social factors (e.g., loneliness) have been linked to the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

Variation in Group Composition Alters an Early-Stage Social Phenotype in hAPP-Transgenic J20 Mice.

Background: Altered social behavior is one of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that results in social withdrawal and loneliness and provides a major burden on patients and their relatives. Furthermore, loneliness is associated with an increased risk to develop AD and related dementias.

Objective: We aimed to investigate if altered social behavior is an early indicator of amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology in J20 mice, and if co-housing with wild type (WT) mice can positively influence this social phenotype.

Influencing cognitive performance via social interactions: a novel therapeutic approach for brain disorders based on neuroanatomical mapping?

Many psychiatric and neurological disorders present deficits in both the social and cognitive domain. In this perspectives article, we provide an overview and the potential of the existence of an extensive neurobiological substrate underlying the close relationship between these two domains. By mapping the rodent brain regions involved in the social and/or cognitive domain, we show that the vast majority of brain regions involved in the cognitive domain are also involved in the social domain.

Hippocampal glucocorticoid target genes associated with enhancement of memory consolidation.

Glucocorticoids enhance memory consolidation of emotionally arousing events via largely unknown molecular mechanisms. This glucocorticoid effect on the consolidation process also requires central noradrenergic neurotransmission. The intracellular pathways of these two stress mediators converge on two transcription factors: the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein (pCREB).