Animals exhibit context-dependent behavioral decisions that are mediated by specific motor circuits. In social species these decisions are often influenced by social status. Although social status-dependent neural plasticity of motor circuits has been investigated in vertebrates, little is known of how cellular plasticity translates into differences in motor activity. Here, we used zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model organism to examine how social dominance influences the activation of swimming and the Mauthner-mediated startle escape behaviors. We show that the status-dependent shift in behavior patterns whereby dominants increase swimming and reduce sensitivity of startle escape while subordinates reduce their swimming and increase startle sensitivity is regulated by the synergistic interactions of dopaminergic, glycinergic, and GABAergic inputs to shift the balance of activation of the underlying motor circuits. This shift is driven by socially induced differences in expression of dopaminergic receptor type 1b (Drd1b) on glycinergic neurons and dopamine (DA) reuptake transporter (DAT). Second, we show that GABAergic input onto glycinergic neurons is strengthened in subordinates compared with dominants. Complementary neurocomputational modeling of the empirical results show that drd1b functions as molecular regulator to facilitate the shift between excitatory and inhibitory pathways. The results illustrate how reconfiguration in network dynamics serves as an adaptive strategy to cope with changes in social environment and are likely conserved and applicable to other social species.
Keywords: aggression; neural plasticity; neuromodulation; sensory motor integration; zebrafish.
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