BMI Distinguished Seminar // Dayu Lin: The multi-phase plasticity supporting winner effect

Aggression is an innate behavior across animal species. It is essential for competing for food, defending territory, securing mates, and protecting families and oneself. Since initiating an attack requires no explicit learning, the neural circuit underlying aggression is believed to be genetically and developmentally hardwired. Despite being innate, aggression is highly plastic. It is influenced by a wide variety of experiences, particularly winning and losing previous encounters. Numerous studies have shown that winning leads to an increased tendency to fight while losing leads to flight in future encounters. In the talk, I will present our recent findings regarding the neural mechanisms underlying the behavioral changes caused by winning.

Recent papers:
Osakada, T., Yan, R., Jiang, Y., Wei, D., Tabuchi, R., Dai, B., Wang, X., Zhao, G., Wang, C.X., Liu, J.J., et al. (2024). A dedicated hypothalamic oxytocin circuit controls aversive social learning. Nature 626, 347-356.
Mei, L., Yan, R., Yin, L., Sullivan, R.M., and Lin, D. (2023). Antagonistic circuits mediating infanticide and maternal care in female mice. Nature 618, 1006-1016.
Mei, L., Osakada, T., and Lin, D. (2023). Hypothalamic control of innate social behaviors. Science 382, 399-404.