A single cooperative experience increases corticolimbic synaptic density and prosocial behavior
Cooperation is typically studied as an output of the social brain, as opposed to an experience that shapes it. Here, we developed a task in rats that permits interaction while requiring joint action for reward. Cooperation depended on dyad familiarity and visual access. Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to basolateral amygdala (BLA) projections were activated during cooperation with a familiar…
Recent research sheds new light on the concept of cooperation, suggesting that it is not merely an output of the social brain, but an experience that shapes the brain itself. To study this phenomenon, scientists created a task for rats that required both interaction and joint action to earn a reward. The researchers found that cooperation depended on the familiarity between the two rats involved and their visual access to each other.
During cooperative interactions, two specific neural pathways were activated in the rats: projections from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA), and from the ACC to the anterior insula (AI). Interestingly, the projections to the AI were suppressed regardless of the rats' familiarity with each other.
The study also revealed that a single 90-minute cooperative experience led to an increase in presynaptic marker SV2A in the amygdala and insula of the rats. This increase was detected by positron emission tomography (PET) scans one day after the cooperative experience. Furthermore, the rats showed heightened attention toward a distressed conspecific after the cooperation session, indicating a change in their behavior beyond the encounter itself.
In conclusion, this study demonstrates that cooperation is an experience that recruits dissociable corticolimbic pathways and alters both brain structure and behavior. The findings suggest that cooperation may have significant implications for the development of the social brain and the emergence of prosocial behavior.
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