Brief Interactions Spur Lasting Waves of Gene Activity in the Brain

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Brief Interactions Spur Lasting Waves of Gene Activity in the Brain

Summary: Researchers report they are able to see alterations in gene expression up to two hours after a stickleback fish interacts with an intruder. They speculate the changes in gene expression and chromatin modification could help set up the brain to respond to future threats. The study appears in PLOS Genetics.

Source: University of Illinois.

A five-minute encounter with an outsider spurs a cascade of changes in gene activity in the brain that can last for hours, researchers report in a study of stickleback fish.

The research, described in the journal PLOS Genetics, is one of three recent studies – the others conducted in honey bees and mice – to see waves of changes in gene expression in the brain 30 minutes to two hours after contact with an intruder.

“We are discovering that social interactions are extremely potent…

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