Functional Probe Research Laboratory, RIKEN Center for Molecular Imaging Science, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan.
Cereb Cortex. 2013 Sep;23(9):2136-45. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhs196. Epub 2012 Jul 12.
Serotonin is known to play an important role not only in regulating emotional behaviors, but also in the formation of social behavior traits. To determine the location and serotonin function of brain areas involved in social behavior traits, we tested serotonin transporter (SERT) binding and neural activity linked with the social behaviors of common marmosets with positron emission tomography using [(11)C]-3-amino-4-(2-dimetylaminomethyl-phenylsulfanyl)-benzonitrile and [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose, respectively. Factor analysis of behavioral measures during a direct encounter between unfamiliar adult males identified three classes of social behavioral traits: (1) aggressive, (2) anxious, and (3) unfriendly (opposite of friendly). Voxel-based analysis revealed a significant association between SERT binding with the social behavioral traits in the midline cortical subregions. Aggressive and friendly traits are localized to the posterior cingulate cortex, and the anxious trait is localized to the anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, neural activity and functional connectivity of the posterior and anterior cingulate cortices appear to be altered depending on the social situation. These results suggest that the midline cortical serotonergic system is crucial in social behavior traits and its subregions are functionally segregated in socio-emotional processing.
血清素不仅在调节情绪行为方面起着重要作用，而且在社会行为特征的形成中也起着重要作用。为了确定参与社会行为特征的大脑区域的位置和血清素功能，我们使用正电子发射断层扫描术（PET）分别用[(11)C]-3-氨基-4-（2-二甲氨基甲基-苯基硫基）-苯腈和[(18)F]氟脱氧葡萄糖测试了常见狨猴的血清素转运蛋白（SERT）结合和与社会行为相关的神经活动。在陌生成年雄性狨猴直接相遇期间行为测量的因子分析确定了三种社会行为特征：（1）攻击性，（2）焦虑和（3）不友好（友好的对立面）。体素分析显示 SERT 与中线皮质亚区的社会行为特征之间存在显著关联。攻击性和友好特征定位于后扣带皮层，而焦虑特征定位于前扣带皮层。此外，后扣带皮层和前扣带皮层的神经活动和功能连接似乎会根据社会情况而改变。这些结果表明，中线皮质血清素能系统在社会行为特征中至关重要，其亚区在社会情感处理中具有功能分离。
