Abstract
Social dominance versus social submissiveness is a basic behavioral trait of social animals such as human beings and laboratory mice. The brain regions associated with this behavior have been intensely investigated, and early neuroimaging research on human subjects implies that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) might be involved in encoding social dominance. However, the underlying circuitry and synaptic mechanism are largely unknown. In this study, by introducing lesions to both NAc subregions, the shell and core, a causal relationship is established between social dominance and both NAc subregions. A further electrophysiology investigation on the circuitry of these two subregions revealed that the postsynaptic strength of excitatory synapses onto the medium spiny neurons that express the D1 dopamine receptors in the shell is negatively correlated, and the postsynaptic strength of excitatory synapses onto the medium spiny neurons that express the D2 dopamine receptors in the core is positively correlated, with social dominance. Correspondingly, a DREADD investigation revealed that the activities of these respective medium spiny neurons suppress and promote social dominance. These findings identify a neural substrate for social dominance, implying the potential for a therapeutic strategy for treating related psychiatric disorders.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank H. Chen and X. Yu for providing technical assistance.
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This study was supported by research grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81671361 to QS) and Lee Ka Shing Foundation (funding to QS).
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QS conceived, designed and supervised the project. QS, YH, SC, and YT conducted the experiments and analyzed data. QS interpreted the data, drafted and revised the paper, communicated with the editors and reviewers, and handled publication. QS is the senior author of this paper.
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Shan, Q., Hu, Y., Chen, S. et al. Nucleus accumbens dichotomically controls social dominance in male mice. Neuropsychopharmacol. 47, 776–787 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01220-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01220-1
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