Dopaminergic Dynamics Contributing to Social Behavior
- 1The Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158
- 2Departments of Bioengineering and Psychiatry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
- Correspondence: deissero{at}stanford.edu; lisa.gunaydin{at}gladstone.ucsf.edu
Abstract
Social interaction is a complex behavior that is essential for the survival of many species, and it is impaired in a broad range of neuropsychiatric disorders. Several cortical and subcortical brain regions have been implicated in a variety of sociosexual behaviors, with pharmacological studies pointing to a key role of the neurotransmitter dopamine. However, little is understood about the real-time circuit dynamics causally underlying social interaction. Here, we consider current knowledge on the role of brain reward circuitry in same-sex social behavior and describe findings from new methods for probing how this circuitry governs social motivation in health and disease.
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