[Purpose] Social cognition is a key factor of rehabilitation in stress-related disorders. The α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is a promising target for the treatment of cognitive deficits associated with psychiatric and neurological disorders. In this study, we investigated the involvement of α7 nAChR in the social cognition of stressed mice.
[Methods] The male C57BL/6J mice at age of 7 weeks were exposed to swimming stress for 15 min. Administration of PHA568487 (PHA: 0.3 mg/kg i.p.), an α7 nAChR agonist was commenced once a day for 7 consecutive days from the next day of stress exposure.
 [Results] The stressed mice showed the impairment of social cognition in the three-chamber social interaction test, the decreased expression of α7 nAChR subunit protein and the ratio of Akt, CaMKⅡ, and ERK phosphorylation in the hippocampus (HIP). These abnormalities were attenuated by repeated treatment with PHA. 
 [Conclusions] Our findings indicated that stress exposure impaired the social cognition via decreasing α7 nAChR-related intracellular signaling in the HIP. Since repeated treatment with PHA attenuated these behavioral and neurochemical changes, α7 nAChR may be one of the new therapeutic targets for the impairment of social cognition in stress-related disorders.