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Vagus Nerve Stimulation as a Tool to Induce Plasticity in Pathways Relevant for Extinction Learning
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Neural circuits for valence updating in social memory.

Narutoshi Suto1,2, Mu-Yun Wang1,3, Shota Morikawa4

  • 1Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (IQB), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|July 9, 2026
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Summary

Social animals update their perception of others by strengthening neural connections in the hippocampal ventral CA1 (vCA1)-basolateral amygdala (BLA)-nucleus accumbens (NAc) circuit. This neural circuit flexibly regulates adaptive social behaviors and social memory.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Social Behavior
  • Animal Cognition

Background:

  • Social animals must recognize familiar individuals and avoid harmful ones.
  • Updating social valence is crucial as relationships change, but neural mechanisms are unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying social valence updating.
  • To identify the brain circuits involved in adapting social behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Artificially transformed a neutral conspecific into an aggressive one in a social setting.
  • Analyzed synaptic connectivity and physiological changes in the hippocampal ventral CA1 (vCA1)-basolateral amygdala (BLA)-nucleus accumbens (NAc) circuit.
  • Examined social memory engram neurons in the vCA1 post-defeat.

Main Results:

  • Valence updating relies on enhanced synaptic connectivity within the vCA1-BLA-NAc circuit.
  • Defeat led to strengthened connections between vCA1 social memory engram neurons and BLA neurons.
  • The vCA1-BLA-NAc circuit demonstrated flexible regulation of adaptive social behaviors.

Conclusions:

  • The vCA1-BLA-NAc neural circuit is critical for updating social valence.
  • Synaptic plasticity in this circuit enables adaptive responses to changing social dynamics.
  • Understanding these mechanisms provides insight into social recognition and avoidance behaviors.