Opiates and play dominance in juvenile rats.
Abstract
Social play between pairs of individually housed juvenile rats was studied by measuring pinning frequencies occurring during rough-and-tumble play. Low doses of morphine increased play, and opioid blockade with naloxone reduced play. Dominance, as measured by which pinned which most, was markedly reduced by naloxone and slightly increased by morphine. These effects were most apparent when animals were treated with these drugs continuously from the beginning of play testing. Although the respective drugs tended to reverse established dominance patterns (i.e., naloxone made dominant animals more submissive, and morphine made submissive animals more dominant), it was apparent that previously established social learning limited the effectiveness of these manipulations. In general, the results are consistent with the proposition that brain opioids are important in controlling the vigor of social relations.
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Later work on social motivation in rats and Rhesus macaques has supported the opioid hypothesis.
“This hypothesis has subsequently been supported by work on social motivation in rats and Rhesus macaques (Panksepp et al 1985; Martel et al 1993; Martel et al 1995).”
From The behavioral, anatomical and pharmacological parallels between social attachment, love and addiction (2012) · cites this paper as Panksepp et al 1985
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Opioid addiction: who are your real friends?
Eitan, S., Emery, M. A., Bates, M. L. S., & Horrax, C. (2017) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.05.017 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Evaluating the play fighting of rats: A sociological perspective
Ham, J. R., Pellis, S. M., Pellis, V. C., & Achterberg, E. J. M. (2026) · Journal of Neuroscience Methods · doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2026.110836
- Authors
- Panksepp, J., Jalowiec, J., DeEskinazi, F. G., & Bishop, P.
- Affiliations
- Bowling Green State University (US)
- ORCID
- Bishop, Paul
- Venue
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Published
- 1985
- Volume
- 99
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 441-453
- ISSN
- 0735-7044 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-0084
- OpenAlex
- W2061584362
- Cited by
- 167
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 7.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- opioids, social dominance, rough-and-tumble play, morphine, naloxone, young rats, social learning, interpersonal relationships, individual housing
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Brain, Endorphins, Morphine, Naloxone, Play and Playthings, Social Dominance, Rats
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