RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Superior Colliculus to VTA pathway controls orienting response to conspecific stimuli JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 735340 DO 10.1101/735340 A1 Clément Prévost-Solié A1 Alessandro Contestabile A1 Pedro Espinosa A1 Stefano Musardo A1 Sebastiano Bariselli A1 Chieko Huber A1 Alan Carleton A1 Camilla Bellone YR 2020 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/11/06/735340.abstract AB Social behaviours characterize cooperative, mutualistic aggressive or parental interactions that occurs among conspecifics. Although several neuronal substrates of social behaviour have been identified, whether defined circuits are dedicated to specific aspect of conspecific interaction is still an open question. Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) contributes to the rewarding properties of conspecific interaction. However, how information related to conspecifics are conveyed to the VTA is still largely unknown. In this study, we identified a population of Superior Colliculus (SC) neurons projecting to the VTA which increase their activity before conspecific interaction and control orienting response towards unfamiliar conspecifics. Finally, we show that SC inputs target a subpopulation of Dopamine (DA) neurons within the VTA that in turn project to dorsolateral striatum (DLS). Our work supports the hypothesis that specialized sub-circuits are dedicated to process different aspect of social interaction.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.