Department of Psychology, University of California, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Horm Behav. 2011 Nov;60(5):457-69. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.08.013. Epub 2011 Aug 31.
Organisms react to threats with a variety of behavioral, hormonal, and neurobiological responses. The study of biological responses to stress has historically focused on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, but other systems such as the mesolimbic dopamine system are involved. Behavioral neuroendocrinologists have long recognized the importance of the mesolimbic dopamine system in mediating the effects of hormones on species specific behavior, especially aspects of reproductive behavior. There has been less focus on the role of this system in the context of stress, perhaps due to extensive data outlining its importance in reward or approach-based contexts. However, there is steadily growing evidence that the mesolimbic dopamine neurons have critical effects on behavioral responses to stress. Most of these data have been collected from experiments using a small number of animal model species under a limited set of contexts. This approach has led to important discoveries, but evidence is accumulating that mesolimbic dopamine responses are context dependent. Thus, focusing on a limited number of species under a narrow set of controlled conditions constrains our understanding of how the mesolimbic dopamine system regulates behavior in response to stress. Both affiliative and antagonistic social interactions have important effects on mesolimbic dopamine function, and there is preliminary evidence for sex differences as well. This review will highlight the benefits of expanding this approach, and focus on how social contexts and sex differences can impact mesolimbic dopamine stress responses.
生物体通过各种行为、激素和神经生物学反应来应对威胁。对生物应激反应的研究历史上一直集中在下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴上，但其他系统，如中脑边缘多巴胺系统也参与其中。行为神经内分泌学家早就认识到中脑边缘多巴胺系统在介导激素对特定物种行为的影响方面的重要性，特别是在生殖行为方面。该系统在应激背景下的作用关注较少，这也许是因为有大量数据表明其在奖励或趋近背景下的重要性。然而，越来越多的证据表明，中脑边缘多巴胺神经元对应激的行为反应有至关重要的影响。这些数据大多是从小部分动物模型物种在有限的背景下收集而来。这种方法带来了重要的发现，但有证据表明，中脑边缘多巴胺反应是依赖于情境的。因此，只关注少数几种在有限控制条件下的物种，限制了我们对中脑边缘多巴胺系统如何调节应激反应行为的理解。亲和和敌对的社会互动对中脑边缘多巴胺功能都有重要影响，并且有初步证据表明存在性别差异。这篇综述将强调扩展这种方法的好处，并重点关注社会背景和性别差异如何影响中脑边缘多巴胺应激反应。
