Nucleus accumbens dopamine release reflects the selective nature of pair bonds.

ABSTRACT: In monogamous species, prosocial behaviors directed toward partners are dramatically different from those directed toward unknown individuals and potential threats. Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens has a well-established role in social reward and motivation, but how this mechanism may be engaged to drive the highly divergent social behaviors directed at a partner or unfamiliar conspecific remains unknown. Using monogamous prairie voles, we first employed receptor pharmacology in partner preference and social operant tasks to show that dopamine is critical for the appetitive drive for social interaction but not for low-effort, unconditioned consummatory behaviors. We then leveraged the subsecond temporal resolution of the fluorescent biosensor, GRAB_DA, to ask whether dif

SUBMITTER: Pierce AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10978070 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature