PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Bing Dai
AU  - Fangmiao Sun
AU  - Amy Kuang
AU  - Yulong Li
AU  - Dayu Lin
TI  - Dopamine release in nucleus accumbens core during social behaviors in mice
AID  - 10.1101/2021.06.22.449478
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.06.22.449478
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/06/23/2021.06.22.449478.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/06/23/2021.06.22.449478.full
AB  - Social behaviors are among the most important and rewarding motivational behaviors. How dopamine, a “reward” signal, releases in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) during social behaviors has become a topic of interest for decades. However, limitations in early recording methods, such as microdialysis, prevented a complete understanding of moment-to-moment dopamine responses during social behaviors. Here, we employ a genetically encoded dopamine sensor, GRABDA2h, to record dopamine activity in the NAc core in mice and find acute changes in extracellular dopamine levels during all three phases of social behaviors: approach, investigation and consummation. Dopamine release during approach phase correlates with animal’s motivation towards the conspecific whereas its release during consummatory phase signals the valence of the experience. Furthermore, dopamine release during sexual and aggressive behaviors shows sex differences that correlate with the potential value of those experiences. Overall, our results reveal rich and temporally precise motivation and value information encoded by NAc dopamine during social behaviors and beyond.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.