Social interaction and acoustic communication in adult mice: markers for healthy and pathological behaviors

Adapted social behavior allows both individual and collective well‑being. At the individual level, it is a hallmark of health. Indeed, virtually all mental health disorders are associated with social deficits. We are interested in understanding the behavioral, neural, and neurochemical bases of social cognition and communication using mouse models. Here, we will review our recent data showing the crucial role of the prefrontal cortex in the organisation of adapted social interaction, the interplay between the cholinergic and the noradrenergic systems for the balance between affiliative interaction, dominance, and control of aggressiveness, and we will discuss the putative role of ultrasonic communication in social interactions in adult animals. We will see the role played by the environment of life and by the context in which interactions take place in healthy individuals and in pathological situations. Together, the data presented will offer a novel focus on the social brain – and social life – of rodents and provide some practical recommendations for future experiments.