ArticleNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2016
Dopaminergic Neurotransmission in the Nucleus Accumbens Modulates Social Play Behavior in Rats.
Article in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 148 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Sickness and the Social Brain: Love in the Time of COVID.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Subcortical dopamine DEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- Endocannabinoid metabolism at VTA GABAergic neurons gates motivation for social, but not food, reward.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Social Novelty Recruits a Dysfunctional Nucleus Accumbens Ensemble That Drives Social Avoidance in abioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A homecage operant paradigm reveals behavioral dynamics of social motivation in mice.Cell reports methods · 2026Article
- Neural Mechanisms of Social Homeostasis: Dynamic Range Plasticity.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Review
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- I've got a friend somewhere: control of social behavior across striatal subregions.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- The neuromodulatory effects ofFood science and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Rat models of lactose intolerance: sexually dimorphic comorbidities with neuropsychiatric disorders modulated by tryptophan hydroxylase and the dopaminergic system.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Comparative gene editing reduces dopamine receptor levels across rodent species.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Neural and Behavioral Correlates of Individual Variability in Rat Helping Behavior: A Role for Social Affiliation and Oxytocin Receptors.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Neurexin1α knockout in rats causes aberrant social behaviour: relevance for autism and schizophrenia.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Operant social seeking to a novel peer after social isolation is associated with activation of nucleus accumbens shell in rats.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- A review of the effects of different types of social behaviors on the recruitment of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters in the nucleus accumbens.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2025Review
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- Sex and Region-Specific Differences in Microglial Morphology and Function Across Development.Neuroglia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Dopaminergic Perturbation in the Aetiology of Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Social play behavior is a highly rewarding form of social interaction displayed by young mammals. Social play is important for neurobehavioral development and it has been found to be impaired in several developmental psychiatric disorders. In line with the rewarding properties of social play, we have previously identified the nucleus accumbens (NAc) as an important site of action for endocannabinoid and opioid modulation of this behavior. NAc dopamine has a well-known role in certain components of reward processes, such as incentive motivation. However, its contribution to the positive emotional aspects of social interactions is less clear. Therefore, we investigated the role of dopaminergic neurotransmission in the NAc in social play behavior in rats. We found that intra-NAc infusion of the dopamine releaser/reuptake inhibitor amphetamine increased social play behavior that was dependent on activation of both D1 and D2 dopamine receptors. This increase in social play behavior was mimicked by intra-NAc infusion of the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine, but not of the dopamine reuptake inhibitor GBR-12909. Blockade of either D1 or D2 NAc dopamine receptors reduced social play in animals highly motivated to play as a result of longer social isolation before testing. Last, blockade of NAc dopamine receptors prevented the play-enhancing effects of endocannabinoid and opioid receptor stimulation. These findings demonstrate an important modulatory role of NAc dopaminergic neurotransmission in social play. Thus, functional activity in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway plays an important role in adaptive social development, whereas abnormal NAc dopamine function may underlie the social impairments observed in developmental psychiatric disorders such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or early-onset schizophrenia.
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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.