ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2011
Nucleus accumbens μ-opioid receptors mediate social reward.
Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 151 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
151 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 265 citations in OpenAlex.
- Opioid peptides in autism spectrum disorder and gluten-free casein-free diet as a therapeutic approach.Metabolic brain disease · 2026Pooled it
- The neurobiological reward system in Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD): A systematic review.Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging · 2020Pooled it
- Opioids and social bonding: Effect of naltrexone on feelings of social connection and ventral striatum activity to close others.Journal of experimental psychology. General · 2020Trial
- Effects of opioid receptor stimulation and blockade on touch pleasantness: a double-blind randomised trial.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2019Trial
- Opioids and social bonding: naltrexone reduces feelings of social connection.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2016Trial
- Opioid receptor blockade and warmth-liking: effects on interpersonal trust and frontal asymmetry.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2014Trial
- Extended amygdala orchestrates social motivation in socially isolated mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Mu or delta opioid receptor antagonists increase the expression of social conditioned place preference in early adolescent mice.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Methamphetamine-Fentanyl Polysubstance Administration Produces Social Deficits and Corticolimbic Stress-Reward Circuit Adaptations.Research square · 2026Article
- μ Opioid Modulation of Sensorimotor Functional Connectivity in Autism: Insights From a Pharmacological Neuroimaging Investigation Using Tianeptine.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Social context in renewal of cocaine and fentanyl seeking: role of peer presence versus peer absence.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Neural Mechanisms of Social Homeostasis: Dynamic Range Plasticity.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Mu-opioid and nociceptin receptors show divergent, cell-type-specific actions in the mesocorticolimbic reward system in opioid use disorder.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Review
- A new two-hit animal model for schizophrenia research: Consequences on social behavior.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Article
- Addictive-like behavioural traits in pet dogs with extreme motivation for toy play.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Sexually Dimorphic Cellular Architecture and Neural Circuity of ovBNST Proenkephalin Neurons.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Article
- Early Postnatal Shank3 Downregulation in the Nucleus Accumbens Impairs Performance in Social Conditioning Paradigms in Male Mice.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- Oxytocin and opioid antagonists: A dual approach to improving social behavior.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- Opioid Regulation of Social Homeostasis: Connecting Loneliness to Addiction.Biological psychiatry · 2025Review
- Operant social seeking to a novel peer after social isolation is associated with activation of nucleus accumbens shell in rats.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
91 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Positive social interactions are essential for emotional well-being and proper behavioral development of young individuals. Here, we studied the neural underpinnings of social reward by investigating the involvement of opioid neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in social play behavior, a highly rewarding social interaction in adolescent rats. Intra-NAc infusion of morphine (0.05-0.1 μg) increased pinning and pouncing, characteristic elements of social play behavior in rats, and blockade of NAc opioid receptors with naloxone (0.5 μg) prevented the play-enhancing effects of systemic morphine (1 mg/kg, s.c.) administration. Thus, stimulation of opioid receptors in the NAc was necessary and sufficient for morphine to increase social play. Intra-NAc treatment with the selective μ-opioid receptor agonist [D-Ala(2),N-MePhe(4),Gly(5)-ol]enkephalin (DAMGO) (0.1-10 ng) and the μ-opioid receptor antagonist Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH(2) (CTAP) (0.3-3 μg) increased and decreased social play, respectively. The δ-opioid receptor agonist DPDPE ([D-Pen(2),D-Pen(5)]-enkephalin) (0.3-3 μg) had no effects, whereas the κ-opioid receptor agonist U69593 (N-methyl-2-phenyl-N-[(5R,7S,8S)-7-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)-1-oxaspiro[4.5]dec-8-yl]acetamide) (0.01-1 μg) decreased social play. Intra-NAc treatment with β-endorphin (0.01-1 μg) increased social play, but met-enkephalin (0.1-5 μg) and the enkephalinase inhibitor thiorphan (0.1-1 μg) were ineffective. DAMGO (0.1-10 ng) increased social play after infusion into both the shell and core subregions of the NAc. Last, intra-NAc infusion of CTAP (3 μg) prevented the development of social play-induced conditioned place preference. These findings identify NAc μ-opioid receptor stimulation as an important neural mechanism for the attribution of positive value to social interactions in adolescent rats. Altered NAc μ-opioid receptor function may underlie social impairments in psychiatric disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, or personality disorders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.