Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.05.27.118851v1?rss=1 Authors: Prevost-Solie, C., Girard, B., Righetti, B., Tapparel, M., Bellone, C. Abstract: Social interactions motivate behavior in many species, facilitating learning, foraging and cooperative behavior. However, how the brain encodes the reinforcing properties of social interactions remains elusive. Here using in vivo recording in freely moving mice, we show that Dopamine (DA) neurons of the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) increase their activity during active interactions with unfamiliar conspecific. Using a social instrumental task, we then show that VTA DA neuron activity signals social reward prediction error and drives social reinforcement learning. Thereby, our findings propose that VTA DA neurons are a neural substrate for a social learning signal driving motivated behavior. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info