Data from: Stimulation of dopamine D1 receptor improves learning capacity in cooperating cleaner fish

Accurate contextual decision-making strategies are important in social environments. Specific areas in the brain are tasked to process these complex interactions and generate correct follow-up responses. The dorsolateral and dorsomedial parts of the telencephalon in the teleost fish brain are neural substrates modulated by the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA), and are part of an important neural circuitry that drives animal behaviour from the most basic actions such as learning to search for food, to properly choosing partners and managing decisions based on context. The Indo-Pacific cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus is a highly social teleost fish species with a complex network of interactions with its ‘client’ reef fish. We asked if changes in DA signalling would affect individual learning ability by presenting cleaner fish two ecologically different tasks that simulated a natural situation requiring accurate decision-making. We demonstrate that there is an involvement of the DA system and D1 receptor pathways on cleaners' natural abilities to learn both tasks. Our results add significantly to the growing literature on the physiological mechanisms that underlie and facilitate the expression of cooperative abilities.

在社会环境中，精准的情境决策策略至关重要。大脑特定脑区负责处理这些复杂的社交互动，并生成恰当的后续反应。硬骨鱼（teleost fish）脑中的端脑背外侧与背内侧区域，是受神经递质多巴胺（DA）调控的神经底物，亦是驱动动物行为的关键神经环路的组成部分，其调控范畴涵盖从觅食学习等基础行为，到伴侣选择、基于情境的决策管理等复杂活动。
印度-太平洋清洁鱼（裂唇鱼，*Labroides dimidiatus*）是高度社会化的硬骨鱼类，与其“宿主”礁鱼间存在复杂的互动网络。本研究通过为清洁鱼设置两项模拟自然情境、需精准决策的生态差异化任务，探究多巴胺信号传导变化是否会影响个体的学习能力。结果证实，多巴胺系统与D1受体通路参与了清洁鱼完成两项任务的天然学习过程。本研究结果为日益增长的、阐释并助力合作行为表达的生理机制相关研究文献提供了重要补充。