We propose a workshop entitled “The social brain” focusing on the molecular and cellular mechanisms, neural circuits and neuronal computations that support social behaviors and social interactions. As we have been cruelly reminded during the pandemic, social interactions are an essential part of our lives. However, we still know very little of the underlying neuronal processes that support social behaviors. In addition, patients suffering from psychiatric diseases often experience impaired social cognition and have difficulties forming and maintaining social relationships. Importantly, several of these diseases are also worsened by social conditions such as isolation or bullying, and cases of mental illnesses involving social deficits are reported to be increasing each year.
Since social interactions are an essential feature of most species, social neurosciences utilize a wide-range of animal models, from insects to non-human primates with the majority of the investigation conducted in rodents. Thus, some studies have leveraged specific rodent species selected for their particular social features such as polygamous and monogamous mouse species or vole subspecies. Scientists interested in social neurosciences therefore have a large array of rodent animal models at their disposal to investigate the neural basis of specific social behaviors (social aggression, social dominance, mating, parenting) and social interactions in general (social exploration and recognition, pro-social / empathy behaviors). Modern social neurosciences are also leveraging the recent advances in computational neuroscience (deep-neural networks for multiple animal tracking, classifiers etc.). Several speakers in our program make extensive use of these tools. For all these reasons, we believe the subject of social neuroscience to be an increasingly important one with wide and different interests from complementary scientific audiences.
A workshop on social neurosciences would be a perfect place for researchers investigating different social behaviors using various techniques to compare and exchange ideas. In addition, rodent animal models of psychiatric diseases exhibiting deficits in social interactions are extensively used to investigate the causes behind diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or autism spectrum disorder (Lewis EM et al., Neuron 2020; Lee D et al., Nat. Neuro. 2021). A workshop on social behaviors would therefore also broach on translational research investigating diseases associated with impaired social interactions.
The overall goal of this workshop is to provide the most incisive and up-to-date overview of the current research in the fields of social neuroscience, with a particular focus on the cellular and molecular mechanisms, neuronal circuits and neuronal computations controlling social behaviors in rodents. To do so, this workshop will bring together a unique combination of internationally recognized investigators, with different and multidisciplinary expertise. These experts have substantially contributed to our current understanding of the neural circuits and mechanisms regulating social behaviors as varied as prosocial/empathy behavior (Keysers, Papaleo), social fear (Charlet, Gross) social reward and motivation (Leroy, Lima, Gould), maternal behaviors (Kohl, Froemke), and social competition (Russo, Hu, Sandi). The workshop will also offer a translational research session looking at the dysregulation of social circuits during psychiatric disorders (Bellone).
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