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Abstract Learning can occur via direct experience or through observation of another individual (i.e., social learning). While research focused on understanding the neural mechanisms of direct learning is prevalent, less work has examined the brain circuitry mediating the acquisition and recall of socially acquired information. Here, we aimed to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying recall of socially acquired information by having male and female rats sequentially recall a socially transmitted food preference (STFP) and a fear association via fear conditioning by-proxy (FCbP). Brain tissue was processed for mRNA expression of the immediate early gene (IEG) Arc , which expresses in the nucleus following transcription before migrating to the cytoplasm over the next 25 min. Given this timeframe, we could identify whether Arc transcription was triggered by STFP recall, FCbP recall, or both. Contrary to past research, we found no differences in any Arc expression measures across a number of prefrontal regions and the ventral CA3 of the hippocampus between controls, demonstrators, and observers. We theorize that these results may indicate that relatively little Arc- dependent neural restructuring is taking place in the prefrontal cortices and ventral CA3 following recall of recently socially acquired information or directly acquired fear associations in these areas. 

The ability to acquire information about the environment through social observation or instruction is an essential form of learning in humans and other animals. Here, we assessed the ability of rats to acquire an association between a light stimulus and the presentation of a reward that is either hidden (sucrose solution) or visible (food pellet) via observation of a trained demonstrator. Subsequent training of observers on the light-reward association indicated that while observation alone was not sufficient for observers to acquire the association, contact with the reward location was higher in observers that were paired with a demonstrator. However, this was only true when the light cue predicted a sucrose reward. Additionally, we found that in the visible reward condition, levels of demonstrator orienting and food cup contact during the observation period tended to be positively correlated with the corresponding behaviour of their observer. This relationship was only seen during later sessions of observer training. Together, these results suggest that while our models were not sufficient to induce associative learning through observation alone, demonstrator behaviour during observation did influence how their paired observer's behavioural response to the cue evolved over the course of direct individual training. 

Direct exposure to stimuli in their environment is not the only way that animals learn about important information. Individuals can infer fear from a social context through observation. Like humans, rats are very social animals, and may learn to infer information about their environment through their interactions with conspecifics. Here, we first review different models for social transmission of information in rodents. Second, we examine different modes of communication that are important to social learning. Then, we cover the different proximate factors that are thought to modulate the social transmission of information. Next, we identify social and environmental conditions that impact social learning, and finally, we conclude by revisiting social transmission through the lens of the Tinbergen framework.