ArticleMolecular psychiatry2013
Response of the μ-opioid system to social rejection and acceptance.
Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 122 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
122 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 222 citations in OpenAlex.
- Endogenous mu-opioid modulation of social connection in humans: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Pain-related opioidergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission: Dual meta-Analyses of PET radioligand studies.Brain research · 2023Pooled it
- MDMA enhances positive affective responses to social feedback.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Trial
- Opioid-blunted cortisol response to stress is associated with increased negative mood and wanting of social reward.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- μ Opioid Antagonist Naltrexone Partially Abolishes the Antidepressant Placebo Effect and Reduces Orbitofrontal Cortex Encoding of Reinforcement.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2021Trial
- 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
- Alleviating Social Pain: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Forgiveness and Acetaminophen.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2019Trial
- Naltrexone alters responses to social and physical warmth: implications for social bonding.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2019Trial
- Effects of opioid- and non-opioid analgesics on responses to psychosocial stress in humans.Hormones and behavior · 2018Trial
- Frontal-Brainstem Pathways Mediating Placebo Effects on Social Rejection.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2017Trial
- An oxytocin-induced facilitation of neural and emotional responses to social touch correlates inversely with autism traits.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2014Trial
- Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Adolescents With Major Depressive Disorder: The Role of Beta-Endorphin, Psychological Pain, and Anhedonia.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Article
- μ Opioid Modulation of Sensorimotor Functional Connectivity in Autism: Insights From a Pharmacological Neuroimaging Investigation Using Tianeptine.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Updated Freudian drive theory: childhood trauma, epigenetics, serotonin and beta endorphin.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Review
- Prenatal fentanyl exposure affects social dominance and myelination patterns in the adult mouse brain.Neuropharmacology · 2025Article
- Physical activity and racial discrimination involvement in pain sensitivity in Asian Americans and non-Hispanic Whites.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Pleasurable music activates cerebral µ-opioid receptors: a combined PET-fMRI study.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2025Article
- Adverse childhood friendship and depression in later life: findings from a national survey in China.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Oxytocin and opioid antagonists: A dual approach to improving social behavior.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
62 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The endogenous opioid system, which alleviates physical pain, is also known to regulate social distress and reward in animal models. To test this hypothesis in humans (n=18), we used an μ-opioid receptor (MOR) radiotracer to measure changes in MOR availability in vivo with positron emission tomography during social rejection (not being liked by others) and acceptance (being liked by others). Social rejection significantly activated the MOR system (i.e., reduced receptor availability relative to baseline) in the ventral striatum, amygdala, midline thalamus and periaqueductal gray (PAG). This pattern of activation is consistent with the hypothesis that the endogenous opioids have a role in reducing the experience of social pain. Greater trait resiliency was positively correlated with MOR activation during rejection in the amygdala, PAG and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), suggesting that MOR activation in these areas is protective or adaptive. In addition, MOR activation in the pregenual ACC was correlated with reduced negative affect during rejection. In contrast, social acceptance resulted in MOR activation in the amygdala and anterior insula, and MOR deactivation in the midline thalamus and sgACC. In the left ventral striatum, MOR activation during acceptance predicted a greater desire for social interaction, suggesting a role for the MOR system in social reward. The ventral striatum, amygdala, midline thalamus, PAG, anterior insula and ACC are rich in MORs and comprise a pathway by which social cues may influence mood and motivation. MOR regulation of this pathway may preserve and promote emotional well being in the social environment.
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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.