A neurobiological perspective on social influence: Serotonin and social adaptation

Social adaptation—adjusting behavior based on others' expectations—relies on several distinct brain mechanisms, including integrating social information, forming self-representations, and making value-based decisions during interactions. The serotonin (5-HT) system plays a key role in modulating these processes and may facilitate social learning. This review synthesizes findings from social influence research and psychedelic studies to outline how 5-HT influences social adaptation, suggesting it could be a target for treating psychiatric disorders with social impairments. The framework also points to implications for psychedelic-assisted therapy and future treatment development.

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Abstract

Abstract Humans are inherently social beings. Being suggestible to each other's expectations enables pro‐social skills that are crucial for social learning and adaptation. Despite their high relevance for psychiatry, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social adaptation are still not well understood. This review, therefore, provides a conceptual framework covering various distinct mechanisms underlying social adaptation and explores the neuropharmacology — in particular the role of the serotonin (5‐HT) system — in modulating these mechanisms. This article reviews empirical results on social influence processing and reconciles them with recent findings from psychedelic research on social processing to elucidate neurobiological and neuropharmacological underpinnings of social adaptation. Various computational, neurobiological, and neurochemical processes are involved in distinct mechanisms underlying social adaptation such as the multisensory process of social information integration that is crucial for the forming of self‐representation and representations of social norms. This is again associated with self‐ and other‐perception during social interactions as well as value‐based decision‐making that guides our behavior in daily interactions. We highlight the critical role of 5‐HT in these processes and suggest that 5‐HT can facilitate social learning and may represent an important target for treating psychiatric disorders characterized by impairments in social functioning. This framework also has important implications for psychedelic‐assisted therapy as well as for the development of novel treatment approaches and future research directions. image