Social isolation modulates appetite and defensive behavior via a common oxytocinergic circuit in larval zebrafish

How brains encode social stimuli and transform these representations into advantageous behavioral responses is not well-understood. Here, we show that social isolation activates an oxytocinergic, nociceptive circuit in the larval zebrafish hypothalamus. We further demonstrate that chemical cues released from conspecific animals modulate its activity to regulate defensive behaviors and appetite. Our collective data reveals a model through which social stimuli can be integrated into fundamental neural circuits to mediate adaptive behaviour.