ReviewNeuron2021
Neural circuits of social behaviors: Innate yet flexible.
Review in Neuron, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 99 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
99 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Endocannabinoid metabolism at VTA GABAergic neurons gates motivation for social, but not food, reward.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Cell-type-specific disruption of nucleus accumbens social representations in a mouse model of autism.Neuron · 2026Article
- ERK-dependent hyperexcitability of BLA neurons projecting to dCA3 underlies social dysfunction in a male mouse model of fragile X syndrome.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- A male-biased hypothalamic circuit modulates postmating sleep suppression in mice.Science advances · 2026Article
- Hippocampal Gene Expression in Zebra Finches Reveals Sex- and Subregion-Specific Topographies.eNeuro · 2026Article
- Parallel anterior cingulate cortex pathways underlie dissociable social and attentional outputs.Science advances · 2026Article
- Social Novelty Recruits a Dysfunctional Nucleus Accumbens Ensemble That Drives Social Avoidance in abioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Sexual Dimorphism in c-Fos Networks Governing Aggression.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Sex-specific behavioral feedback modulates sensorimotor processing and drives flexible social behavior.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Dopamine modulation of aggression.Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Distinct distributed neural dynamics predict pallium-dependent social approach.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Divergent BLA engram circuits orchestrate social preference dynamics in bystander male mice with self-experienced stress.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Efficient pheromone navigation via antagonistic detectors in Caenorhabditis elegans male.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Astrocytes mediate a positive feedback loop for oxytocin.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Gonadal and sex chromosomal contributions to sex differences in mammalian brain organization.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl) nNOS neurons regulate social behaviors in a sex-specific manner.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Dysfunction of the paraventricular thalamus-prelimbic cortex circuit underlies maternal separation-induced deficits in contagious pain.Science advances · 2025Article
39 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Social behaviors, such as mating, fighting, and parenting, are fundamental for survival of any vertebrate species. All members of a species express social behaviors in a stereotypical and species-specific way without training because of developmentally hardwired neural circuits dedicated to these behaviors. Despite being innate, social behaviors are flexible. The readiness to interact with a social target or engage in specific social acts can vary widely based on reproductive state, social experience, and many other internal and external factors. Such high flexibility gives vertebrates the ability to release the relevant behavior at the right moment and toward the right target. This maximizes reproductive success while minimizing the cost and risk associated with behavioral expression. Decades of research have revealed the basic neural circuits underlying each innate social behavior. The neural mechanisms that support behavioral plasticity have also started to emerge. Here we provide an overview of these social behaviors and their underlying neural circuits and then discuss in detail recent findings regarding the neural processes that support the flexibility of innate social behaviors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.