Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39631401›Full record

ArticleCurrent biology : CB2025

Multisensory integration of social signals by a pathway from the basal amygdala to the auditory cortex in maternal mice.

Alexandra C Nowlan, Jane Choe, Hoda Tromblee, Clancy Kelahan, Karin Hellevik, Stephen D Shea

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Current biology : CB, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–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

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Neural circuits for mammalian parental behaviour.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026
    Review
  2. Maternal experience alters brain-wide representation of infant cries.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
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  10. 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

6 authors.

Alexandra C NowlanCold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Jane ChoeCold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Hoda TrombleeCold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Clancy KelahanCold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Karin HellevikCold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Stephen D SheaCold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA. Electronic address: sshea@cshl.edu.

Funding

Emotional modulation of neural and behavioral responses to social cues by locus coeruleusR01MH119250 · NIMH · COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY · PI SHEA, STEPHEN D · 2019 to 2023
$2.4M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH119250
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Social encounters are inherently multisensory events, yet how and where social cues of distinct sensory modalities merge and interact in the brain is poorly understood. When their pups wander away from the nest, mother mice use a combination of vocal and olfactory signals emitted by the pups to locate and retrieve them. Previous work revealed the emergence of multisensory interactions in the auditory cortex (AC) of both dams and virgins who cohabitate with pups ("surrogates"). Here, we identify a neural pathway that relays information about odors to the AC to be integrated with responses to sound. We found that a scattered population of glutamatergic neurons in the basal amygdala (BA) projects to the AC and responds to odors, including the smell of pups. These neurons exhibit increased activity when the female is searching for pups that terminates upon contact. Finally, we show that selective optogenetic activation of BA-AC neurons modulates responses to pup calls, and that this modulation switches from predominantly suppressive to predominantly excitatory after maternal experience. This supports an underappreciated role for the amygdala in directly shaping sensory representations in an experience-dependent manner. We propose that the BA-AC pathway supports integration of olfaction and audition to facilitate maternal care and speculate that it may carry valence information to the AC.

Indexed as

AmygdalaAuditory CortexAnimalsAuditory PerceptionFemaleMaternal BehaviorMiceMice, Inbred C57BLNeural PathwaysOdorantsOptogeneticsSmellVocalization, Animalamygdalaauditionauditory cortexbehavioral neurosciencematernal behaviormultisensory integrationneurophysiologyolfactionoptogeneticssocial communication

Identifiers

PMID39631401
PMCPMC11809444

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.