Longitudinal imaging of thalamic axons in M1 shows that motor learning reorganizes which cortical neurons the thalamus drives, shifting its influence toward the neurons that encode learned movements. Inactivating these thalamic inputs in expert mice impairs the learned movements.

The amygdalostriatal transition zone (ASt) contains sparse, high signal-to-noise neurons that maintain sustained responses to negative valence stimuli throughout defensive behavior. Photostimulation of ASt drives freezing and avoidance; inhibiting its Drd2+ neurons reduces conditioned fear.

Social rank predicts alcohol consumption in mice, with subordinates drinking more than dominants. Social isolation escalates drinking through a BLA-mPFC circuit that becomes hyperexcitable; optogenetically inhibiting this circuit after isolation reduces alcohol intake.

Social exclusion increases sensitivity to physical pain. Blocking oxytocin signaling in the insula replicates this effect, suggesting social exclusion alters pain perception through insular neuromodulation.

mPFC population dynamics predict social rank and competitive outcomes in mice. The mPFC exerts top-down control over dominance behavior through projections to the lateral hypothalamus, establishing a cortico-hypothalamic circuit for social competition.