Social hierarchy regulates ocular dominance plasticity in adult male mice.

We here show that social rank, as assessed by competition for a running wheel, influences ocular dominance plasticity in adult male mice. Dominant animals showed a clear ocular dominance shift after four days of MD, whereas their submissive cage mates did not. NMDA receptor activation, reduced GABA inhibition, and serotonin transmission were necessary for this plasticity, but not sufficient to explain the difference between dominant and submissive animals. In contrast, prefrontal dopamine concentration was higher in dominant than submissive mice, and systemic manipulation of dopamine transmission bidirectionally changed ocular dominance plasticity. Thus, we could show that a social hierarchical relationship influences ocular dominance plasticity in the visual cortex via higher-order cortices, most likely the medial prefrontal cortex. Further studies will be needed to elucidate the precise mechanisms by which this regulation takes place.