Nucleus accumbens dopamine release reflects the selective nature of pair bonds
- PMID: 38218185
- PMCID: PMC10978070
- DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.041
Nucleus accumbens dopamine release reflects the selective nature of pair bonds
Abstract
In monogamous species, prosocial behaviors directed toward partners are dramatically different from those directed toward unknown individuals and potential threats. Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens has a well-established role in social reward and motivation, but how this mechanism may be engaged to drive the highly divergent social behaviors directed at a partner or unfamiliar conspecific remains unknown. Using monogamous prairie voles, we first employed receptor pharmacology in partner preference and social operant tasks to show that dopamine is critical for the appetitive drive for social interaction but not for low-effort, unconditioned consummatory behaviors. We then leveraged the subsecond temporal resolution of the fluorescent biosensor, GRABDA, to ask whether differential dopamine release might distinguish between partner and novel social access and interaction. We found that partner seeking, anticipation, and interaction resulted in more accumbal dopamine release than the same events directed toward a novel vole. Further, partner-associated dopamine release decreased after prolonged partner separation. Our results are consistent with a model in which dopamine signaling plays a prominent role in the appetitive aspects of social interactions. Within this framework, differences in partner- and novel-associated dopamine release reflect the selective nature of pair bonds and may drive the partner- and novel-directed social behaviors that reinforce and cement bonds over time. This provides a potential mechanism by which highly conserved reward systems can enable selective, species-appropriate social behaviors.
Keywords: dopamine; loss; monogamy; operant; pair bond; partner preference; separation; social motivation; vole.
Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests.
Similar articles
-
Prolonged partner separation erodes nucleus accumbens transcriptional signatures of pair bonding in male prairie voles.Elife. 2023 Feb 28;12:e80517. doi: 10.7554/eLife.80517. Elife. 2023. PMID: 36852906 Free PMC article.
-
Social selectivity and social motivation in voles.Elife. 2021 Nov 2;10:e72684. doi: 10.7554/eLife.72684. Elife. 2021. PMID: 34726153 Free PMC article.
-
The role of dopamine signaling in prairie vole peer relationships.Horm Behav. 2021 Jan;127:104876. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104876. Epub 2020 Nov 5. Horm Behav. 2021. PMID: 33152338 Free PMC article.
-
The ties that bond: neurochemistry of attachment in voles.Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2016 Jun;38:80-8. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2016.04.011. Epub 2016 Apr 30. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2016. PMID: 27131991 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Aversive motivation and the maintenance of monogamous pair bonding.Rev Neurosci. 2013;24(1):51-60. doi: 10.1515/revneuro-2012-0068. Rev Neurosci. 2013. PMID: 23314526 Review.
References
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources