Despite a broad continuum of phenotypic variation in behavior, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) share core deficits in social interaction. Here we propose that social dysfunction in ASD results, in part, from impairments in deriving vicarious reinforcement from others. Observing what happens to others powerfully shapes normal human learning and behavior. Such other-regarding outcomes can drive observational learning, and motivate behaviors such as cooperation, as well as envy. Empathic responses associated with vicarious reward appear early in ontogeny, and their impairment in neuropsychiatric disorders like ASD can have devastating consequences. Understanding and treating social dysfunction in ASD will be advanced by discovering and manipulating the neural mechanisms that derive vicarious reward and punishment from what happens to others. Although brain-imaging studies have revealed some of the neural circuitry mediating social interactions, the neuronal mechanisms underlying vicarious reward remain unknown. We will use our new behavioral model of vicarious reward to determine the underlying neuronal mechanisms, delineate the impacts of network dysfunction due to reversible inactivation of ACC or OFC on vicarious reward and other-regarding behavior, and define the effects of oxytocin (OT), a potential therapeutic intervention for ASD, on behavior and neural function.
Despite a broad continuum of phenotypic variation in behavior, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) share core deficits in social interaction. Here we propose that social dysfunction in ASD results, in part, from problems in deriving vicarious reward from others. We will use our new animal model of vicarious reward to discover how the brain signals vicarious reward, discover the impact of brain dysfunction on vicarious reward, and test how oxytocin, a potential therapy for ASD, might improve vicarious reward and brain function.
| Jiang, Yaoguang; Platt, Michael L (2018) Oxytocin and vasopressin flatten dominance hierarchy and enhance behavioral synchrony in part via anterior cingulate cortex. Sci Rep 8:8201 |
| Jiang, Yaoguang; Platt, Michael L (2018) Oxytocin and vasopressin increase male-directed threats and vocalizations in female macaques. Sci Rep 8:18011 |
| Tremblay, Sébastien; Sharika, K M; Platt, Michael L (2017) Social Decision-Making and the Brain: A Comparative Perspective. Trends Cogn Sci 21:265-276 |
| Platt, Michael L; Seyfarth, Robert M; Cheney, Dorothy L (2016) Adaptations for social cognition in the primate brain. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 371:20150096 |
| Ebitz, R Becket; Platt, Michael L (2015) Neuronal activity in primate dorsal anterior cingulate cortex signals task conflict and predicts adjustments in pupil-linked arousal. Neuron 85:628-40 |
| Chang, Steve W C; Fagan, Nicholas A; Toda, Koji et al. (2015) Neural mechanisms of social decision-making in the primate amygdala. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112:16012-7 |
| Drucker, Caroline B; Carlson, Monica L; Toda, Koji et al. (2015) Non-invasive primate head restraint using thermoplastic masks. J Neurosci Methods 253:90-100 |
| Utevsky, Amanda V; Platt, Michael L (2014) Status and the brain. PLoS Biol 12:e1001941 |
| Gariépy, Jean-François; Watson, Karli K; Du, Emily et al. (2014) Social learning in humans and other animals. Front Neurosci 8:58 |
| Roy, Arani; Shepherd, Stephen V; Platt, Michael L (2014) Reversible inactivation of pSTS suppresses social gaze following in the macaque (Macaca mulatta). Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 9:209-17 |
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