Startling Job of Dopamine in Social Interaction

Photo: Parthiv Haldipur/Flickr

• ASD stands for 'autism spectrum disorders'
• DRN for our purposes stands for 'dorsal raphe nucleus'
• Dopamine, brain messenger molecule associated with memory, learning, movement control
• Researchers found that nerve cells releasing dopamine were particularly active, with short-term isolated mice
  • Suggesting isolation, DRN is primed, prompting social interaction
•  Scientists found, when this group of dopamine neurons in DRN was:
  • Stimulated it caused more social interaction
  • Inhibited it caused less interaction
• Findings also suggest, at least in mice, that:
  • Altered social behavior linked to social rank
  • Social dominant more sensitive by isolation
• Application: helpful, determining social anxiety or ASD targets
• Published in the Journal Cell