Publication Type Academic Article
Authors Fetcho R, Hall B, Estrin D, Walsh A, Schuette P, Kaminsky J, Singh A, Roshgodal J, Bavley C, Nadkarni V, Antigua S, Huynh T, Grosenick L, Carthy C, Komer L, Adhikari A, Lee F, Rajadhyaksha A, Liston C
Journal Nat Commun
Volume 14
Issue 1
Pagination 2487
Date Published 04/29/2023
ISSN 2041-1723
Keywords Social Interaction, Social Behavior
Abstract Social hierarchies exert a powerful influence on behavior, but the neurobiological mechanisms that detect and regulate hierarchical interactions are not well understood, especially at the level of neural circuits. Here, we use fiber photometry and chemogenetic tools to record and manipulate the activity of nucleus accumbens-projecting cells in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC-NAcSh) during tube test social competitions. We show that vmPFC-NAcSh projections signal learned hierarchical relationships, and are selectively recruited by subordinate mice when they initiate effortful social dominance behavior during encounters with a dominant competitor from an established hierarchy. After repeated bouts of social defeat stress, this circuit is preferentially activated during social interactions initiated by stress resilient individuals, and plays a necessary role in supporting social approach behavior in subordinated mice. These results define a necessary role for vmPFC-NAcSh cells in the adaptive regulation of social interaction behavior based on prior hierarchical interactions.
DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-37460-6
PubMed ID 37120443
PubMed Central ID PMC10148889
Back to Top