Developmental time course of social touch, parvalbumin interneurons, perineuronal nets and Mef2c expression reveals a sensitive period of somatosensory cortex development in prairie voles
Social touch facilitates our attachment to others, especially early in life, which may be linked to the maturation of parvalbumin interneurons (PVI) in the somatosensory cortex (S1). These neurons respond to social touch, mature in a sensory experience-dependent manner, and influence both somatosensory processing and social behavior in models of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are an ideal rodent model for studying these concepts since they engage in a species-typical social touch called "huddling". This study first showed that over development from juvenile to adult, same-sex siblings huddled less and explored more. Next, we tracked two markers of plasticity indicative of PVI maturation, extracellular perineuronal nets (PNNs) and nuclear transcription factor Myocyte enhancing factor 2C (Mef2c) - across seven developmental timepoints. We found that, while PV expression in S1 was stable by P21, PNNs and Mef2c continued to shift afterwards, indicating a protracted development. Four unique clusters of PVIs converge during development between P14-P21, suggesting a sensitive period of PVI development. Finally, to determine environmental factors affecting these processes, environmental enrichment between P21-P28 led to accelerated PVI maturation. This developmental mapping provides a particularly salient model to investigate the molecular underpinnings of cortical and social development.