Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38310109›Full record

ArticleNature communications2024

A prefrontal-thalamic circuit encodes social information for social recognition.

Zihao Chen, Yechao Han, Zheng Ma, Xinnian Wang, Surui Xu, Yong Tang, Alexei L Vyssotski, Bailu Si, Yang Zhan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Thalamocortical orchestration of human theory of mind.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Distinct neural dynamics in the ventral hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex during social information processing.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Mechanisms of comorbidity between Alzheimer's disease and pain.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Zihao Chen *The Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Yechao Han *The Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.ORCID 0000-0003-2679-4112
Zheng MaThe Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.ORCID 0000-0003-1836-6855
Xinnian WangThe Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Surui XuThe Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Yong TangThe Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9364-8337
Alexei L VyssotskiInstitute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-9021-1471
Bailu SiSchool of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-0260-3433
Yang ZhanThe Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China. yang.zhan@siat.ac.cn.ORCID 0000-0002-1150-6344

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 31671101National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32070985
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Social recognition encompasses encoding social information and distinguishing unfamiliar from familiar individuals to form social relationships. Although the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is known to play a role in social behavior, how identity information is processed and by which route it is communicated in the brain remains unclear. Here we report that a ventral midline thalamic area, nucleus reuniens (Re) that has reciprocal connections with the mPFC, is critical for social recognition in male mice. In vivo single-unit recordings and decoding analysis reveal that neural populations in both mPFC and Re represent different social stimuli, however, mPFC coding capacity is stronger. We demonstrate that chemogenetic inhibitions of Re impair the mPFC-Re neural synchronization and the mPFC social coding. Projection pathway-specific inhibitions by optogenetics reveal that the reciprocal connectivity between the mPFC and the Re is necessary for social recognition. These results reveal an mPFC-thalamic circuit for social information processing.

Indexed as

Midline Thalamic NucleiThalamusAnimalsMaleMiceNeural PathwaysPrefrontal CortexRecognition, Psychology

Identifiers

PMID38310109
PMCPMC10838311

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.