Rank- and threat-dependent social modulation of innate defensive behaviors.

Dominance hierarchy influences innate defensive behaviors in mice, with social presence reducing stress and shifting responses depending on threat type and rank.

• Why it matters: Understanding how social context and hierarchy shape fear responses is crucial for insights into survival strategies and social behavior regulation in group-living animals.
• What they did: Researchers exposed mice to visual looming and live rat threats, observing social modulation of defensive behaviors in 50 mice across different ranks, using behavioral analysis and state transition mapping.
• The result: Findings reveal that social presence and hierarchy alter defensive responses and social engagement, offering a framework to explore neural mechanisms underlying socially modulated innate fear.