The Strength of Synaptic Plasticity and Social Rank

Background and Aim : Dominance hierarchy has a profound impact on societal function and individuals’ life quality. Getting to the top of the social hierarchy is determined by personality traits such as grit, and social experience such as history of winning or losing. Social hierarchical status of the animal correlates with the synaptic strength in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neurons. MPFC-based neural circuitry also underlies the winner effect, where animals increase their chance of victory after repeated winning.Methods : Furthermore, molecular manipulations that resulted in an increase and decrease in the synaptic efficacy in dorsal mPFC neurons caused an upward and downward movement in the social rank, respectively.Results : Thus, social rank is plastic and can be tuned by altering synaptic strength in mPFC pyramidal cells.Conclusion : Understanding the processes involved in the synaptic switch of social dominance hierarchies is crucial to improve our understanding of several psychosocial disorders. As we know left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), one of the most stress-sensitive brain areas, is linked to neuropsychiatric disorders. One potential productive avenue for future research is that using electrical or magnetic stimulation of the mPFC in the context of tasks engaging learning social hierarchy mechanisms can improve neuropsychiatric disorders such as social anxiety or depression.

کلیدواژه ها:

Social Rank ، medial prefrontal cortex ، Synaptic Plasticity