About this Research Topic
Social interaction, either cooperative or competitive, accounts for a large amount of our daily life and represents the cornerstone of human society. Conversely, social impairments are commonly observed in various neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, and can exacerbate the symptoms of the patient. Therefore, dissecting the neural mechanism underlying social interaction is of great importance in terms of understanding the pathogenesis of social impairments, and may provide key knowledge on developing potential therapeutical approaches in the future.
To perform social interaction behavior, animals need to instantaneously integrate their multiple internal states (e.g. motivation, reward, emotion and memory) with ever-changing sensory information of different modalities (e.g. visual, auditory, olfactory and somatosensory). It is conceivable that completely mapping the neural mechanism underlying social interaction is extremely challenging. While the field is progressing rapidly, we are still far from a full understanding of normal social interaction behavior as well as social impairments at all levels from molecules to neural circuits. Application of cutting-edge techniques such as activity-dependent neuronal labeling and activity manipulation tools, together with advanced single-cell RNA sequencing, we could be able to draw a clearer picture for social interaction behavior, from the distribution of different molecules and cell types to crosslink the different brain regions. Findings in this regard could further offer useful insights on developing strategies to mitigate social deficits.
The goal of this Research Topic is to introduce novel research findings and technological advances that investigate new molecules, cell types, neural circuits and brain regions underlying different kinds of social interaction behavior, such as social approach, parental behavior, aggression, and sexual behavior. We also welcome reviews that summarize current knowledge, recent advances, and perspectives on important issues to be addressed and challenges in future studies in the field.
We welcome all submissions in the form of Original Research Articles or Review Articles from either basic research or clinical research in this field. Themes of interests include but are not limited to the following:
- Studying genes, molecules, cell types, long-range circuits, local microcircuits, and brain regions that are crucial for the regulation of social interaction behavior under physiological and/or pathological conditions.
- Investigating novel strategies and tools that are useful in deciphering the neural mechanisms underlying social interaction behavior.
Keywords: Social Interaction, Molecules, Cell Types, Brain Regions, Neural Circuitry
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
