Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019 Jan;44(1):97-110. doi: 10.1038/s41386-018-0129-2. Epub 2018 Jun 23.
The rewarding properties of social interactions are essential for the expression of social behavior and the development of adaptive social relationships. Here, we review sex differences in social reward, and more specifically, how oxytocin (OT) acts in the mesolimbic dopamine system (MDS) to mediate the rewarding properties of social interactions in a sex-dependent manner. Evidence from rodents and humans suggests that same-sex social interactions may be more rewarding in females than in males. We propose that there is an inverted U relationship between OT dose, social reward, and neural activity within structures of the MDS in both males and females, and that this dose-response relationship is initiated at lower doses in females than males. As a result, depending on the dose of OT administered, OT could reduce social reward in females, while enhancing it in males. Sex differences in the neural mechanisms regulating social reward may contribute to sex differences in the incidence of a large number of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. This review addresses the potential significance of a sex-dependent inverted U dose-response function for OT's effects on social reward and in the development of gender-specific therapies for these disorders.
社交互动的奖励属性对于表达社交行为和发展适应性社交关系至关重要。在这里，我们回顾了性别差异在社会奖励中的作用，特别是催产素（OT）如何在中脑边缘多巴胺系统（MDS）中发挥作用，以性别依赖的方式调节社交互动的奖励属性。来自啮齿动物和人类的证据表明，同性社交互动可能对女性比对男性更有奖励。我们提出，OT 剂量、社交奖励和 MDS 结构内的神经活动之间存在一个倒 U 关系，在男性和女性中，这种剂量反应关系在女性中比男性中起始于更低的剂量。因此，根据给予的 OT 剂量，OT 可能会降低女性的社交奖励，同时增强男性的社交奖励。调节社会奖励的神经机制的性别差异可能导致许多精神和神经发育障碍的发生率存在性别差异。本综述探讨了 OT 对社会奖励的影响以及针对这些障碍制定性别特异性治疗方法的潜在意义，即 OT 效应的倒 U 剂量反应功能。
