The fitness benefits of social life depend on the ability of animals to affiliate with
others and form groups, on dominance hierarchies within groups that determine
resource distribution, and on cognitive capacities for recognition, learning and information transfer. The evolution of these phenotypes is coupled with that of neuroendocrine mechanisms, but the causal link between the two remains underexplored.
Growing evidence from our research group and others demonstrates that the tools
available in zebrafish, Danio rerio, can markedly facilitate progress in this field. Here,
we review this evidence and provide a synthesis of the state-of-the-art in this model
system. We discuss the involvement of generalized motivation and cognitive components, neuroplasticity and functional connectivity across social decision-making brain
areas, and how these are modulated chiefly by the oxytocin-vasopressin neuroendocrine system, but also by reward-pathway monoamine signaling and the effects of
sex-hormones and stress physiology.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
