Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27732892›Full record

ArticleBehavioural brain research2017

Decreasing GABA function within the medial prefrontal cortex or basolateral amygdala decreases sociability.

Tracie A Paine, Nathan Swedlow, Lucien Swetschinski

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Behavioural brain research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Neurodevelopmental effects of early life stress: PFC and cognition.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2026
    Review
  3. Impact of early social isolation on social circuits and behavior: relevance to schizophrenia.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. The Amygdala Regulates Social Motivation for Selective Vocal Imitation in Zebra Finches.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Identifying novel proteins underlying loneliness by integrating GWAS summary data with human brain proteomes.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Effects of α5 GABACNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2022
    Article
  16. mGluNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Developmental Shifts in Amygdala Activity during a High Social Drive State.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2021
    Article
  20. GABAJournal, genetic engineering & biotechnology · 2021
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Tracie A PaineDepartment of Neuroscience, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, 44074, United States. Electronic address: tpaine@oberlin.edu.
Nathan SwedlowDepartment of Neuroscience, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, 44074, United States.
Lucien SwetschinskiDepartment of Neuroscience, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, 44074, United States.
Oberlin College · US

Funding

Do 'schizophrenia-like' decreases in cortical GABA function impair cognition?R15MH098246 · NIMH · OBERLIN COLLEGE · PI PAINE, TRACIE ANN · 2012 to 2012
$268k
NIMH NIH HHS R15 MH098246
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionDecreased sociability is a symptom of psychiatric conditions including autism-spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. Both of these conditions are associated with decreases in GABA function, particularly in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA); structures that are components of the social brain. Here, we determined if decreasing GABA transmission within either the PFC or the BLA decreases social behavior.

methodsRats were implanted with cannulae aimed at either the medial PFC or the BLA and then were tested on up to 4 behavioral tests following bilateral infusions of 0.5μl bicuculline methiodide (BMI, a GABA

resultsIntra-BLA or PFC BMI infusions decreased the amount of time and the number of social interactions in the social interaction test. Further, in the social preference test, rats infused with 50ng BMI no longer exhibited a preference to explore a social over a non-social stimulus. The change in sociability was not due to a change in reward processing or locomotor behavior. DISCUSSION: Decreasing GABA transmission in either the medial PFC or BLA decreased sociability. Thus, changes in GABA signaling observed in conditions such as autism or schizophrenia may mediate the social withdrawal characteristic of these conditions. Moreover, they suggest that social withdrawal may be treated by drugs that potentiate GABA transmission.

Indexed as

Interpersonal RelationsAnimalsBasolateral Nuclear ComplexBicucullineDose-Response Relationship, DrugFood PreferencesGABA-A Receptor Antagonistsgamma-Aminobutyric AcidMalePrefrontal CortexRatsRats, Sprague-DawleySucroseBicucullinebicuculline methiodideGABA-A Receptor Antagonistsgamma-Aminobutyric AcidSucroseAutismBasolateral amygdalaGABA(A) receptorPrefrontal cortexSchizophreniaSociability

Identifiers

PMID27732892
PMCPMC5107341
OpenAlexW2530056063

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.