Overview

• Suppressing these neurons eliminated normal discrimination between familiar and unfamiliar peers in behavioral tests.
• Inhibition also removed the typical preference for engaging with a stressed conspecific over an unstressed one.
• Free social interaction was unchanged, indicating a context-specific role in choosing social targets rather than a general sociability deficit.
• The identified cells operate in the agranular insular cortex, with real-time activity recorded via microendoscopic calcium imaging.
• The Kobe University–led study, conducted with Kyoto Institute of Technology and Hokkaido University, highlights relevance to PV interneuron findings in autism and schizophrenia while remaining preclinical.