Social incentivization of instrumental choice in mice requires amygdala-prelimbic cortex-nucleus accumbens connectivity

Abstract

Social experiences influence decision making, including decision making lacking explicit social content, yet mechanistic factors are unclear. We developed a new procedure, social incentivization of future choice (SIFC). Female mice are trained to nose poke for equally-preferred foods, then one food is paired with a novel conspecific, and the other with a novel object. Mice later respond more for the conspecific-associated food. Thus, prior social experience incentivizes later instrumental choice. SIFC is pervasive, occurring following multiple types of social experiences, and is not attributable to warmth or olfactory cues alone. SIFC requires the prelimbic prefrontal cortex (PL), but not the neighboring orbitofrontal cortex. Further, inputs from the basolateral amygdala to the PL and outputs to the nucleus accumbens are necessary for SIFC, but not memory for a conspecific. Basolateral amygdala→PL connections may signal the salience of social information, leading to the prioritization of coincident rewards via PL→nucleus accumbens outputs.