1474-Neural Circuits for Valence Updating in Social Memory

This research identifies the vCA1–BLA–NAc neural circuit as the critical pathway for updating social memory valence, allowing animals to distinguish and avoid specific individuals who have become harmful. While the vCA1–NAc pathway manages general social familiarity, the authors demonstrate that synaptic strengthening between hippocampal memory engrams and the basolateral amygdala is necessary to link an individual’s identity with negative emotions. Through advanced calcium imaging and optogenetic manipulations, the study reveals that social defeat transforms how the brain represents an aggressor, shifting from stable identity coding in the hippocampus to dynamic, synchronized activity in the nucleus accumbens. These physiological changes ensure that social avoidance remains targeted toward specific threats rather than becoming a generalized depressive behavior. Ultimately, the findings establish a framework for understanding how synaptic plasticity and circuit-level transformations allow social animals to flexibly update their emotional responses to others.

References:

• Suto N, Wang M Y, Morikawa S, et al. Neural circuits for valence updating in social memory[J]. Science, 2026, 393(6807): eadx8231.