Regulation of social interaction in mice by a frontostriatal circuit modulated by established hierarchical relationships.

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