A novel operant task to assess social reward and motivation in rodents

Borland, Johnathan M.; Frantz, Kyle J.; Aiani, Lauren M.; Grantham, Kymberly N.; Song, Zhimin; Albers, H. Elliott

doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2017.06.003

Cited by 34 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Rather than allowing mice to passively experience a social stimulus, such paradigms require effort from subjects to obtain a social reward, potentially rendering it more salient. Similar studies in hamsters have found that subjects work equally hard for social rewards as food rewards [37]. Social feedback appears to be intrinsically rewarding across social species, causing increases in dopamine that mediate appetitive learning via behavioral reinforcement [38].…”

Section: Figure 4 Correlation Between Arousal Behaviors During Playbmentioning

confidence: 82%

Female Social Feedback Reveals Non-imitative Mechanisms of Vocal Learning in Zebra Finches

Carouso-Peck

Goldstein

2019

Current Biology

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Graphical AbstractHighlights d Imitation, not social factors, is thought to drive zebra finch song learning d We tested whether non-vocal visual feedback from females affects song learning d Song learning was facilitated by contingent feedback; yoked controls did not learn d Socially guided vocal learning is a crucial mechanism of song development In BriefThe zebra finch is the most common model of human speech development but, unlike humans, is thought to learn only via imitation. Carouso-Peck and Goldstein show that song learning is affected by non-vocal, visual feedback from females. Young males given feedback contingent on their immature songs developed higher-quality songs than yoked controls.

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Section: Figure 4 Correlation Between Arousal Behaviors During Playbmentioning

confidence: 82%

Female Social Feedback Reveals Non-imitative Mechanisms of Vocal Learning in Zebra Finches

Carouso-Peck

Goldstein

2019

Current Biology

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“…Moreover, as bees remain sensitive to social stimuli into adulthood, exposure to the hive and presumed interactions with other bees would enable this conditioned learning. Vertebrates value social stimuli as rewarding (Borland et al, 2017) and can associate social cues with a location (Calcagnetti and Schechter, 1992). Furthermore, vertebrates respond to social cues as they do to food rewards (Mühlhoff et al, 2011) and the same mesocorticolimbic system is involved (Dölen et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) sociability and nestmate affiliation is dependent on the social environment experienced post-eclosion

Hewlett

Wareham

Barron

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Underpinning the formation of a social group is the motivation of individuals to aggregate and interact with conspecifics, termed sociability. Here, we developed an assay, inspired by vertebrate approaches to evaluate social behaviours, to simultaneously examine the development of honey bee () sociability and nestmate affiliation. Focal bees were placed in a testing chamber which was separated from groups of nestmates and conspecific non-nestmates by single-layer mesh screens. Assessing how much time bees spent contacting the two mesh screens allowed us to quantify simultaneously how much bees sought proximity and interaction with other bees and their preference for nestmates over non-nestmates. Both sociability and nestmate affiliation could be detected soon after emergence as an adult. Isolation early in adult life impaired honey bee sociability but there was no evidence for a critical period for the development of the trait, as isolated bees exposed to their hive for 24 h when as old as 6 days still recovered high levels of sociability. Our data show that, even for advanced social insects, sociability is a developmental phenomenon and experience dependent.

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“…Sex differences in social reward As mentioned above, the rewarding nature of social interactions has recently been compared explicitly between males and females, using Syrian hamsters as an animal model. While not a great deal is known about the social behavior of hamsters in the field, laboratory studies show social interactions to be highly rewarding in this species [8,115,116]. Hamsters have robust skills in social recognition of, and communication with, conspecifics [117,118].…”

Section: Sex Differences In Mesolimbic Dopamine Signalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-dependent regulation of social reward by oxytocin: an inverted U hypothesis

Borland

Rilling

Frantz

et al. 2018

Neuropsychopharmacol

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The rewarding properties of social interactions are essential for the expression of social behavior and the development of adaptive social relationships. Here, we review sex differences in social reward, and more specifically, how oxytocin (OT) acts in the mesolimbic dopamine system (MDS) to mediate the rewarding properties of social interactions in a sex-dependent manner. Evidence from rodents and humans suggests that same-sex social interactions may be more rewarding in females than in males. We propose that there is an inverted U relationship between OT dose, social reward, and neural activity within structures of the MDS in both males and females, and that this dose-response relationship is initiated at lower doses in females than males. As a result, depending on the dose of OT administered, OT could reduce social reward in females, while enhancing it in males. Sex differences in the neural mechanisms regulating social reward may contribute to sex differences in the incidence of a large number of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. This review addresses the potential significance of a sex-dependent inverted U dose-response function for OT's effects on social reward and in the development of gender-specific therapies for these disorders.

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A novel operant task to assess social reward and motivation in rodents

Abstract: This task allows for detailed and direct assessment of social and non-social rewards that may serve as effective behavioral reinforcers in this operant conditioning model, and it can be used to investigate the neural mechanisms regulating motivation.

Cited by 34 publications

References 41 publications

Female Social Feedback Reveals Non-imitative Mechanisms of Vocal Learning in Zebra Finches

Female Social Feedback Reveals Non-imitative Mechanisms of Vocal Learning in Zebra Finches

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) sociability and nestmate affiliation is dependent on the social environment experienced post-eclosion

Sex-dependent regulation of social reward by oxytocin: an inverted U hypothesis

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