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Human behavior and decision making is subject to social and motivational influences such as emotions, norms and self/other regarding preferences. The identification of the neural and psychological mechanisms underlying these factors is a central issue in psychology, behavioral economics and social neuroscience, with important clinical, social, and even political implications. However, despite a continuously growing interest from the scientific community, the processes underlying these factors, as well as their ontogenetic and phylogenetic development, have so far remained elusive. In this Research Topic we collect articles that provide challenging insights and stimulate a fruitful controversy on the question of “what determines social behavior”. Indeed, over the last decades, research has shown that introducing a social context to otherwise abstract tasks has diverse effects on social behavior. On the one hand, it may induce individuals to act irrationally, for instance to refuse money, but on the other hand it improves individuals’ reasoning, in that formerly difficult abstract problems can be easily solved. These lines of research led to distinct (although not necessarily mutually exclusive) models for socially-driven behavioral changes. For instance, a popular theoretical framework interprets human behavior as a result of a conflict between cognition and emotion, with the cognitive system promoting self-interested choices, and the emotional system (triggered by the social context) operating against them. Other theories favor social norms and deontic heuristics in biasing human reasoning and encouraging choices that are sometimes in conflict with one’s interest. Few studies attempted to disentangle between these (as well as other) models. As a consequence, although insightful results arise from specific domains/tasks, a comprehensive theoretical framework is still missing. Furthermore, studies employing neuroimaging techniques have begun to shed some light on the neural substrates involved in social behavior, implicating consistently (although not exclusively) portions of the limbic system, the insular and the prefrontal cortex. In this context, a challenge for present research lies not only in further mapping the brain structures implicated in social behavior, or in describing in detail the functional interaction between these structures, but in showing how the implicated networks relate to different theoretical models. This is Research Topic hosted by members of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research “Affective Sciences – Emotions in Individual Behaviour and Social Processes”. We collected contributions from the international community which extended the current knowledge about the psychological and neural structures underlying social behavior and decision making. In particular, we encouraged submissions from investigators arising from different domains (psychology, behavioral economics, affective sciences, etc.) implementing different techniques (behavior, electrophysiology, neuroimaging, brain stimulations) on different populations (neurotypical adults, children, brain damaged or psychiatric patients, etc.). Animal studies are also included, as the data reported are of high comparative value. Finally, we also welcomed submissions of meta-analytical articles, mini-reviews and perspective papers which offer provocative and insightful interpretations of the recent literature in the field.

Decision Making --- Medial prefrontal cortex --- autism spectrum disorders(ASD) --- Social Behavior --- Contextual appraisal --- oxytocin receptor gene --- ultimatum game --- Emotions --- Decision Making --- Medial prefrontal cortex --- autism spectrum disorders(ASD) --- Social Behavior --- Contextual appraisal --- oxytocin receptor gene --- ultimatum game --- Emotions

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Human behavior and decision making is subject to social and motivational influences such as emotions, norms and self/other regarding preferences. The identification of the neural and psychological mechanisms underlying these factors is a central issue in psychology, behavioral economics and social neuroscience, with important clinical, social, and even political implications. However, despite a continuously growing interest from the scientific community, the processes underlying these factors, as well as their ontogenetic and phylogenetic development, have so far remained elusive. In this Research Topic we collect articles that provide challenging insights and stimulate a fruitful controversy on the question of “what determines social behavior”. Indeed, over the last decades, research has shown that introducing a social context to otherwise abstract tasks has diverse effects on social behavior. On the one hand, it may induce individuals to act irrationally, for instance to refuse money, but on the other hand it improves individuals’ reasoning, in that formerly difficult abstract problems can be easily solved. These lines of research led to distinct (although not necessarily mutually exclusive) models for socially-driven behavioral changes. For instance, a popular theoretical framework interprets human behavior as a result of a conflict between cognition and emotion, with the cognitive system promoting self-interested choices, and the emotional system (triggered by the social context) operating against them. Other theories favor social norms and deontic heuristics in biasing human reasoning and encouraging choices that are sometimes in conflict with one’s interest. Few studies attempted to disentangle between these (as well as other) models. As a consequence, although insightful results arise from specific domains/tasks, a comprehensive theoretical framework is still missing. Furthermore, studies employing neuroimaging techniques have begun to shed some light on the neural substrates involved in social behavior, implicating consistently (although not exclusively) portions of the limbic system, the insular and the prefrontal cortex. In this context, a challenge for present research lies not only in further mapping the brain structures implicated in social behavior, or in describing in detail the functional interaction between these structures, but in showing how the implicated networks relate to different theoretical models. This is Research Topic hosted by members of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research “Affective Sciences – Emotions in Individual Behaviour and Social Processes”. We collected contributions from the international community which extended the current knowledge about the psychological and neural structures underlying social behavior and decision making. In particular, we encouraged submissions from investigators arising from different domains (psychology, behavioral economics, affective sciences, etc.) implementing different techniques (behavior, electrophysiology, neuroimaging, brain stimulations) on different populations (neurotypical adults, children, brain damaged or psychiatric patients, etc.). Animal studies are also included, as the data reported are of high comparative value. Finally, we also welcomed submissions of meta-analytical articles, mini-reviews and perspective papers which offer provocative and insightful interpretations of the recent literature in the field.

Decision Making --- Medial prefrontal cortex --- autism spectrum disorders(ASD) --- Social Behavior --- Contextual appraisal --- oxytocin receptor gene --- ultimatum game --- Emotions

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Decades of research have identified a role for dopamine neurotransmission in prefrontal cortical function and flexible cognition. Abnormal dopamine neurotransmission underlies many cases of cognitive dysfunction. New techniques using optogenetics have allowed for ever more precise functional segregation of areas within the prefrontal cortex, which underlie separate cognitive functions. Learning theory predictions have provided a very useful framework for interpreting the neural activity of dopamine neurons, yet even dopamine neurons present a range of responses, from salience to prediction error signaling. The functions of areas like the Lateral Habenula have been recently described, and its role, presumed to be substantial, is largely unknown. Many other neural systems interact with the dopamine system, like cortical GABAergic interneurons, making it critical to understand those systems and their interactions with dopamine in order to fully appreciate dopamine's role in flexible behavior. Advances in human clinical research, like exome sequencing, are driving experimental hypotheses which will lead to fruitful new research directions, but how do (or should?) these clinical findings inform basic research? Following new information from these techniques, we may begin to develop a fresh understanding of human disease states which will inform novel treatment possibilities. However, we need an operational framework with which to interpret these new findings. Therefore, the purpose of this Research Topic is to integrate what we know of dopamine, the prefrontal cortex and flexible behavior into a clear framework, which will illuminate clear, testable directions for future research.

behavioral flexibility --- Dopamine --- medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) --- Attentional set-shifting --- basal forebrain --- anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) --- endocannabinoid system --- lateral habenula (LHb) --- Locus coeruleus (LC) --- motivational salience

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During aging, reductions in hippocampal neurogenesis are associated with memory decline indicating a causal relationship. Indeed, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a major activator of the extracellular receptor kinase pathway that is central in learning and memory processes, is also a key modulator of hippocampal neurogenesis. Previously, we showed that age-related declines in spatial memory tasks can be improved by antioxidant-rich diets containing blueberries. In this study, to begin to understand the mechanisms responsible for the beneficial effects of blueberries, we assessed changes in hippocampal plasticity parameters such as hippocampal neurogenesis, extracellular receptor kinase activation, and IGF-1 and IGF-1R levels in blueberry-supplemented aged animals. Our results show that all these parameters of hippocampal neuronal plasticity are increased in supplemented animals and aspects such as proliferation, extracellular receptor kinase activation and IGF-1 and IGF-1R levels correlate with improvements in spatial memory. Therefore, cognitive improvements afforded by polyphenolic-rich fruits such as blueberries appear, in part, to be mediated by their effects on hippocampal plasticity

Activation. --- Adult dentate gyrus. --- Aged rats. --- Aging. --- Alzheimers-disease. --- Animal. --- Animals. --- Antioxidants. --- Behavior. --- Cognition. --- Diet. --- Dietary supplementation. --- Environmental enrichment. --- Erk. --- Growth-factor-i. --- Growth. --- Hippocampal neurogenesis. --- Hippocampal. --- Human. --- Igf-1. --- Learning and memory. --- Learning. --- Level. --- Mechanisms. --- Medial prefrontal cortex. --- Memory. --- Modulation. --- Neurogenesis. --- Neuronal signal-transduction. --- Neuronal. --- Parameters. --- Plasticity. --- Rat. --- Rats. --- Receptor. --- Reduction. --- Spatial memory. --- Spatial. --- Task. --- Tasks. --- Time. --- Vitamin-e. --- Water maze.

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The mesocortical and mesolimbic dopaminergic (DAergic) pathways are activated by either aversive or rewarding stimuli. The functional tone of these DAergic neurons also increases during the execution of cognitive tasks. The present study was designed to examine the relationship between mesocortical and mesolimbic DAergic function and the expression of fear-related behaviours as compared with attention- and cognition-related mechanisms (e.g. coping strategies), in response to aversive conditions. To this aim, we used two psychogenetically selected rat lines, Roman high-avoidance (RHA/Verh) and Roman low-avoidance (RLA/Verh), which display drastically different emotion- and coping-related behaviours in response to stressors: RLA/Verh rats are 'reactive copers' and more fearful than RHA/Verh rats, which are 'proactive copers'. Brain dialysis experiments demonstrated that tail-pinch (TP) and the anxiogenic compounds pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) and ZK 93426 increased DA output in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFCX) of RHA/Verh but not RLA/Verh, rats. In contrast, in the shell compartment of the nucleus accumbens (NAC shell), TP caused a small increase in DA output only in RLA/Verh rats, whereas PTZ and ZK 93426 had no significant effect on either line. RHA/Verh rats displayed more robust and longer lasting coping activity and less frequent freezing and self-grooming episodes than did RLA/Verh rats after TP, PTZ or ZK 93426. This dissociation between fear-related behaviour and cortical DAergic activation argues against the view that the latter may be involved in the control of fear-like responses. We therefore propose that the activation of mesocortical DAergic projections by aversive stimuli underlies the cognitive mechanisms that are triggered in an attempt to gain control over the stressor.

Accumbens. --- Activation. --- Activity. --- Attention. --- Behaviour. --- Brain. --- Control. --- Coping strategies. --- Coping strategy. --- Coping. --- Cortex. --- Dopamine. --- Emotion. --- Experiment. --- Experiments. --- Expression. --- Function. --- Increase. --- Increases. --- Mechanisms. --- Medial prefrontal cortex. --- Neurons. --- Nucleus accumbens. --- Nucleus-accumbens. --- Nucleus. --- Pentylenetetrazol. --- Prefrontal cortex. --- Projections. --- Rat. --- Rats. --- Release. --- Response. --- Responses. --- Roman high-avoidance. --- Stimuli. --- Strategies. --- Strategy. --- Stressor. --- Stressors. --- Task. --- Tasks.