Editorial: Neural and Behavioral Mechanisms of Social Learning

Laura Agee ^1* Marie H Monfils ¹ Abdellah Fourtassi ²

• ¹ The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States
• ² Aix Marseille University, Universite ́ de Toulon, CNRS, LIS, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Neural and Behavioral Mechanisms of Social Learning 12 13 Social learning, the acquisition of new information or behavior through observation of or instruction 14 by other organisms, has been observed in a host of species [1][2][3]. Humans in particular rely heavily 15 on social learning strategies to acquire and distribute information between individuals and across 16 generations [4]. Moreover, access to social learning opportunities is essential for normative 17 behavioral and cognitive development, as is evidenced by the persistent deficits observed in 18 individuals deprived of social contact in early life. In accordance with the clear importance of this 19 information transfer method, much research has been dedicated to understanding social learning at a 20 mechanistic level [5][6][7][8]. In this editorial, we feature a collection of recent articles focused on further 21 developing our understanding of the behavioral and/or biological underpinnings of social learning. 22In the collection's first paper, de Groot et al. assessed human participants on their reliance on social 23 information and utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to calculate the total volumes of various 24 brain regions. Using machine learning models, they attempted to determine whether the total volume 25 of different brain regions related to the degree of reliance on socially acquired information. They 26 found that increased reliance on information thought to be coming from another individual for 27 decision making was related to higher volume in the pars triangularis and entorhinal cortex. They 28 also found a negative correlation between reliance on social information and activity in certain 29 regions of the frontal and post-central gyri. While the authors speculated that the postcentral and 30 frontal gyri were more likely to be mediating visual processes required for task performance, the 31 other regions were thought to be uniquely involved in social learning. 32In their recent methods paper, Taggert et al. describe the development of an open-source automated 33 social interaction chamber for the study of social threat learning in mice. Their device consists of a 34 small "social stimulus" chamberlarge enough to house an adult mouse -that can neatly slot into 35 standard modular fear conditioning chambers. A series of infrared photobeams at the barrier between 36 the two chambers detect interactions between a stimulus and test mouse, allowing for shock delivery 37 to the test mouse timed to social interaction. They demonstrate that this system successfully induces 38 learned social avoidance in mice shocked on interaction with the stimulus mouse. Their design 39 allows for easy integration of social threat learning as a behavioral model into any lab outfitted with 40 modular fear conditioning chambers. Much about the behavioral and biological underpinnings of social learning remain to be understood. 57The articles included in this collection represent some of the latest findings, methodological 58 advances, and discussions that may help further elucidate this topic. 59 1