FeaturedYPE html> Zhang Lab | Neuroscience at VCU
Virginia Commonwealth University

Understanding the Neural Basis of Social Behavior

We focus on the neuronal basis of naturalistic social behaviors and investigate how circuit level disruptions give rise to social deficits in conditions such as autism, depression, anxiety, and Alzheimer's disease. Our long term goal is to identify circuit level therapeutic targets that restore normal social function.

Publications Meet the Team

When someone we care about is in distress, we often feel an instinctive urge to help. In this video, a bystander mouse pulls the tongue of an unconscious familiar mouse, drawing it out of the mouth and widening the airway. These actions often helped the unresponsive mouse recover. Our research explores how this behavior unfolds and how it is controlled by the brain. Read our recent Science paper.

What We Study

Research Focus

AI-Powered Analysis

Automated Social Behavior Tracking

Computer vision and machine learning algorithms automatically track and classify complex social behaviors at unprecedented scale.

Multi-animal tracking with identity preservation
Behavior classification using deep learning
High-throughput analysis with automated annotation
Related Publications Reviving-like prosocial behavior in response to unconscious or dead conspecifics — Science, 2025 TRACE: end-to-end temporal inference of animal behaviors from video — bioRxiv, 2026
Neural Behavior Classification
TRACE paper thumbnail
TRACE — End-to-end temporal inference and annotation of animal behaviors from video (Shi, Zhang et al., bioRxiv 2026)
Social Behavior Tracking
Group Tracking
Community Effort

Building the Animal Behavioral Dataset

We are establishing a large-scale, open animal behavioral dataset to accelerate research at the intersection of neuroscience and AI. The dataset will combine rich videos of mice behaviors with annotations.

Multi-view video of freely interacting animals
Expert annotations of behavioral states and events
Open to collaborators from all scientific backgrounds
Related Publication TRACE — end-to-end temporal inference and annotation of animal behaviors from video — bioRxiv, 2026
Join the Effort
Dataset Example
Neural Recording

Linking Behavior to Neural Activity

We link behavior to neural activity using cutting-edge calcium imaging and large-scale electrophysiology to understand how social behaviors are encoded in the brain.

Miniscope imaging for freely moving recordings
Fiber photometry calcium imaging
Neuropixels 2.0 large-scale electrophysiology
Related Publications Medial preoptic area antagonistically mediates stress-induced anxiety and parental behavior — Nature Neuroscience, 2021 The medial preoptic area mediates depressive-like behaviors via distinct GABAergic projections — Nature Neuroscience, 2023
Neuropixels 2.0 recording rig
Neuropixels 2.0
Fiber photometry system
Fiber Photometry
Circuit Mapping

Mapping Circuit Architecture

We map circuit architecture using state-of-the-art anatomical and physiological techniques to understand how neural circuits are organized.

Anatomical tracing for connectivity mapping
Patch clamp recordings for cellular physiology
Slice electrophysiology for synaptic properties
Related Publications A non-canonical reticular–limbic central auditory pathway via medial septum contributes to fear conditioning — Neuron, 2018 Glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons in pontine central gray mediate opposing valence-specific behaviors — Neuron, 2023
Brain section showing circuit architecture
Brain section
Causal Testing

Testing Circuit Function

We test causal relationships between neural activity and behavior using precise manipulation of genetically defined neuronal populations.

Optogenetic manipulation for precise temporal control
Chemogenetic approaches for sustained modulation
Cell-type specific targeting with viral strategies
Related Publications Excitation–inhibition imbalance in medial preoptic area circuits underlies chronic stress-induced depressive-like states — Nature Communications, 2024 A bottom-up reward pathway mediated by somatostatin neurons in the medial septum complex — Nature Communications, 2022

Optogenetic Manipulation

Manipulation example coming soon
Molecular Analysis

Molecular Perspective on Neural Populations

Single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics provide a complementary molecular perspective on behavior-relevant neuronal populations.

Single-cell sequencing for cell type identification
Spatial transcriptomics for tissue mapping
Multi-modal integration linking genes to circuits
Related Publications Integrative mapping of spatial transcriptomic and amyloid pathology in Alzheimer's disease at single-cell resolution — bioRxiv, 2023 The neural basis of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease — Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2024

Molecular Profiling Visualization

Sequencing data coming soon
Recent Work

Selected Publications

Our research has been published in leading journals including Science, Nature Neuroscience, and Neuron.

Methods & SoftwareNew

NeuroFlow: An integrated, cross-platform workflow for mouse brain atlas registration and quantification

Rao A, Oo H, Tao C, Zhang GW*

bioRxiv (2026)

Read Paper
Natural Social BehaviorsFeatured

Reviving-like prosocial behavior in response to unconscious or dead conspecifics in rodents

Sun W*, Zhang GW*, Huang JJ, Tao C*, Seo MB, Tao HW, Zhang LI

Science. 387, eadq2677 (2025)

Featured by a Science Perspective: An innate drive to save a life (2025)

Read Paper
Social Behavior & StressFeatured

Medial preoptic area antagonistically mediates stress-induced anxiety and parental behavior

Zhang GW, Shen L, Tao C, Jung AH, Peng B, Li Z, Zhang LI, Tao HW

Nature Neuroscience. 24, 516-528 (2021)

Featured by a Nature Neuroscience News & Views: Balancing anxiety and social desire (2021)

Read Paper
Social Behavior & Hormones

The medial preoptic area mediates depressive-like behaviors induced by ovarian hormone withdrawal through distinct GABAergic projections

Tao C*, Zhang GW*, Huang JJ, Li Z, Tao HW, Zhang LI

Nature Neuroscience. 26, 1529-1540 (2023)

Read Paper
Sensory Processing

Transforming sensory cues into aversive emotion via septal-habenular pathway

Zhang GW, Shen L, Zhong W, Xiong Y, Zhang LI, Tao HW

Neuron. 99, 1016-1028.e5 (2018)

Read Paper
Sensory Processing

A non-canonical reticular-limbic central auditory pathway via medial septum contributes to fear conditioning

Zhang GW*, Sun W*, Zingg B, Shen L, He J, Xiong Y, Tao HW, Zhang LI

Neuron. 97, 406-417.e4 (2018)

Read Paper
Sensory Processing

Glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons in pontine central gray mediate opposing valence-specific behaviors through a global network

Xiao C, Wei J, Zhang GW, Tao C, Huang JJ, Shen L, Wickersham R, Tao HW, Zhang LI

Neuron. 111, 1486-1503.e7 (2023)

Featured by a Neuron Preview: Valence processing in pons (2023)

Read Paper
Social Behavior & Stress

Excitation-inhibition imbalance in medial preoptic area circuits underlies chronic stress-induced depressive-like states

Tao C*, Zhang GW*, Sun W, Huang JJ, Zhang LI, Tao HW

Nature Communications. 15, 8575 (2024)

Read Paper
Reward Learning

A bottom-up reward pathway mediated by somatostatin neurons in the medial septum complex underlying appetitive learning

Shen L*, Zhang GW*, Tao C, Seo MB, Zhang NK, Huang JJ, Zhang LI, Tao HW

Nature Communications. 13, 1194 (2022)

Read Paper
View All Publications
Our People

Join Our Team

We are always looking for talented and motivated researchers to join our team.

We're Hiring

We have open positions for postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and research technicians interested in neural circuits and social behavior.

Meet Our Team & Open Positions
Get in Touch

Contact

Email

guangwei.zhang@vcuhealth.org

Location

Sanger Hall, Room 9-060
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA 23298

More Contact Information