Social status–dependent shift in neural circuit activation affects decision making

In a social group, animals make behavioral decisions that fit their social ranks. These behavioral choices are dependent on the various social cues experienced during social interactions. In vertebrates, little is known of how social status affects the underlying neural mechanisms regulating decision-making circuits that drive competing behaviors. Here, we demonstrate that social status in zebrafish (Danio rerio) influences behavioral decisions by shifting the balance in neural circuit activation between two competing networks (escape and swim). We show that socially dominant animals enhance activation of the swim circuit. Conversely, social subordinates display a decreased activation of the swim circuit, but an enhanced activation of the escape circuit. In an effort to understand how social status mediates these effects, we constructed a neurocomputational model of the escape and swim circuits. The model replicates our findings and suggests that social status–related shift in circuit dynamics could be mediated by changes in the relative excitability of the escape and swim networks. Together, our results reveal that changes in the excitabilities of the Mauthner command neuron for escape and the inhibitory interneurons that regulate swimming provide a cellular mechanism for the nervous system to adapt to changes in social conditions by permitting the animal to select a socially appropriate behavioral response.