Evolutionary, cognitive, and neural underpinnings of mammalian play are not yet fully elucidated. We played hide-and-seek, an elaborate role-play game, with rats. We did not offer food rewards but engaged in playful interactions after finding or being found. Rats quickly learned the game and learned to alternate between hiding versus seeking roles. They guided seeking by vision and memories of past hiding locations and emitted game event–specific vocalizations. When hiding, rats vocalized infrequently and they preferred opaque over transparent hiding enclosures, a preference not observed during seeking. Neuronal recordings revealed intense prefrontal cortex activity that varied with game events and trial types (“hide” versus “seek”) and might instruct role play. The elaborate cognitive capacities for hide-and-seek in rats suggest that this game might be evolutionarily old.
The statistical association and the functional evidence suggest that mutations of the GABRG2 gene may increase the risk of RE/ARE. Restoring the impaired membrane trafficking of some GABRG2 mutations by enhancing palmitoylation might be an interesting therapeutic approach to reverse the pathogenic effect of such mutants.
Highlights d Nuclear CtBP1 restricts synaptogenesis and vesicular release probability d CtBP1 is required for efficient compensatory endocytosis at the presynapse d CtBP1 facilitates synaptic vesicle retrieval via activation of the lipid enzyme PLD1 d Phosphorylation by Pak1 shifts CtBP1 from the active zone to endocytic sites
Rats have elaborate cognitive capacities for playing Hide & Seek. Playing Hide & Seek strongly engages medial prefrontal cortex and the activity of prefrontal cortex neurons reflects the structure of the game. We wondered if prefrontal neurons would also show a mirroring of play‐related neural activity. Specifically, we asked how does the activity in the rat medial prefrontal cortex differ when the animal plays itself versus when it observes others playing. Consistent with our previous work, when the animal plays itself we observed medial prefrontal cortex activity that was sharply locked to game events. Observing play, however, did not lead to a comparable activation of rat medial prefrontal cortex. Firing rates during observing play were lower than during real play. The modulation of responses in medial prefrontal cortex by game events was strong during playing Hide & Seek, but weak during observing Hide & Seek. We conclude the rat prefrontal cortex does not mirror play events under our experimental conditions.
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