Abstract
Social behavior encompasses a number of distinctive and complex constructs that form the core elements of human imitative culture, mainly represented as either affiliative or antagonistic interactions with conspecifics. Traditionally considered in the realm of psychology, social behavior research has benefited from recent advancements in neuroscience that have accelerated identification of the neural systems, circuits, causative genes and molecular mechanisms that underlie distinct social cognitive traits. In this review article, I summarize recent findings regarding the neuroanatomical substrates of key social behaviors, focusing on results from experiments conducted in rodent models. In particular, I will review the role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and downstream subcortical structures in controlling social behavior, and discuss pertinent future research perspectives.
Highlights
In the past three decades, rapid advancements in molecular, cellular and genetic methodologies as well as the implementation of cutting-edge imaging technologies, have accelerated our understanding of social behavior (Insel and Fernald, 2004; Insel, 2010; Stanley and Adolphs, 2013; Gunaydin et al, 2014; Lerner et al, 2016)
Even small variations in early environmental exposure such as exposure to an enriched environment drive striking phenotypic individuality and changes in hippocampal neurogenesis in genetically identical inbred mice (Freund et al, 2013). These intriguing observations highlight the plasticity of social behavior in response to environmental context (Lynch and Kemp, 2014)
Tracer studies in various animal models have demonstrated that threat-coping behavior is initiated by medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) input to the periaqueductal gray (PAG) (Floyd et al, 2000; Keay and Bandler, 2001; Gabbott et al, 2005; Franklin et al, 2017) except in the circumstance of fear and anxiety initiated by PAG-amygdala circuitry (Johansen et al, 2010; McNally et al, 2011; Kim et al, 2013; Penzo et al, 2014), the physiological roles of specific neural circuits that interconnect PAG neurons with other brain networks are largely undefined
Summary
Substrates of Rodent Social Behavior: The Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Its Projection Patterns. Social behavior encompasses a number of distinctive and complex constructs that form the core elements of human imitative culture, mainly represented as either affiliative or antagonistic interactions with conspecifics. Considered in the realm of psychology, social behavior research has benefited from recent advancements in neuroscience that have accelerated identification of the neural systems, circuits, causative genes and molecular mechanisms that underlie distinct social cognitive traits. I summarize recent findings regarding the neuroanatomical substrates of key social behaviors, focusing on results from experiments conducted in rodent models. I will review the role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and downstream subcortical structures in controlling social behavior, and discuss pertinent future research perspectives
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