The researchers analyzed the CA1 and CA2 regions of the hippocampus, which are responsible for remembering places and people, respectively. The results showed that CA1 helps remember where a threatening event occurred, while CA2 encodes more complex aspects of social memories (e.g. whether another individual is safe or dangerous).
For the study, scientists asked mice to choose between meeting a stranger, receiving a mild electric shock, or having a safe meeting. The mice quickly learned that certain places and strangers were associated with threat. But when the scientists suppressed CA1 function, the mice forgot where the shock occurred but remembered the stranger. When CA2 was disabled, they were unable to distinguish between dangerous and harmless strangers.
These findings may help understand disorders such as social anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder and open new avenues for their diagnosis and treatment.
Source: Ferra
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