Cited by 456Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Opponency revisited: competition and cooperation between dopamine and serotonin

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Boureau, Y-Lan, Dayan, Peter·2011·Neuropsychopharmacology

Abstract

Affective valence lies on a spectrum ranging from punishment to reward. The coding of such spectra in the brain almost always involves opponency between pairs of systems or structures. There is ample evidence for the role of dopamine in the appetitive half of this spectrum, but little agreement about the existence, nature, or role of putative aversive opponents such as serotonin. In this review, we consider the structure of opponency in terms of previous biases about the nature of the decision problems that animals face, the conflicts that may thus arise between Pavlovian and instrumental responses, and an additional spectrum joining invigoration to inhibition. We use this analysis to shed light on aspects of the role of serotonin and its interactions with dopamine.

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Crossref · 10.1038/npp.2010.151

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  • SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants, the first-line pharmacological treatment of OCD, may normalize dopamine levels by upregulation of serotonin signaling, which has an inhibitory effect on dopamine.

    “Even SSRI’s and tricyclic antidepressants, the first line pharmacological treatment of OCD, may normalize dopamine levels by upregulation of serotonin signaling, that has an inhibitory effect on dopamine (Boureau and Dayan, 2010).”

    From Response Inhibition and Interference Control in Obsessive–Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (2014) · cites this paper as Boureau and Dayan, 2010

    The section on serotonergic regulation of the dopaminergic system says serotonin can exert tonic inhibitory control over dopamine, particularly through 5-HT2C receptors, but also describes receptors that stimulate dopamine release. It does not support the claim that SSRIs or tricyclic antidepressants normalize dopamine levels in OCD, or identify them as first-line OCD treatments. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Dopamine has differential effects in the prefrontal cortex and striatum, different firing modes, and complex interactions with other neurotransmitter systems and hormones.

    “Dopamine has differential effects in the prefrontal cortex and striatum, different firing modes (i.e., tonic and phasic) and highly complex interactions with other neurotransmitter systems, including the serotonin, noradrenalin, and glutamate system, and even hormones, such as estrogens (Boureau and Dayan, 2010; Cools and D’Esposito, 2011; de Bartolomeis et al., 2013)”

    From Response Inhibition and Interference Control in Obsessive–Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (2014) · cites this paper as Boureau and Dayan, 2010

    The Dopaminergic System section describes different dopamine effects involving the prefrontal cortex and striatum, as well as tonic and phasic firing. The Serotonergic System and Its Regulation of the Dopaminergic System and 5-HT and Disengagement sections describe complex interactions with serotonin and noradrenaline. Our copy does not substantiate the sentence’s additional claim about interactions with estrogens or other hormones; glutamate appears in the cited references, but the retrieved discussion does not establish that part of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Interactions between dopamine and serotonin signaling may be important for both anhedonia and heightened sensitivity to, and avoidance of, threatening stimuli.

    “Interactions between dopamine and serotonin signaling may be important for both anhedonia and heightened sensitivity to, and avoidance of, threatening stimuli (Boureau and Dayan, 2011).”

    From Revisiting the SSRI vs. placebo debate in the treatment of social anxiety disorder: the role of expectancy effects, neural responsivity, and monoamine transporters (2025) · cites this paper as Boureau and Dayan, 2011

    The Aversive Responses and Learned Effects sections discuss dopamine and serotonin in responses to threat and avoidance learning. The copy does not establish that their interactions are important for anhedonia or heightened sensitivity to threatening stimuli; those more specific parts of the claim remain unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Downstream effects on dopamine neurotransmission may play a key role in SSRI-responsive disorders.

    “Downstream effects—such as those on dopamine neurotransmission, implicated in approach-avoidance motivation—may also play a key role.”

    From Revisiting the SSRI vs. placebo debate in the treatment of social anxiety disorder: the role of expectancy effects, neural responsivity, and monoamine transporters (2025) · cites this paper as Boureau and Dayan, 2011

    The section ‘The Serotonergic System and Its Regulation of the Dopaminergic System’ (page unavailable) describes serotonin’s effects on dopamine release, and ‘Immediate Effects’ links dopamine to avoidance learning and antidepressant effects. The copy does not establish that downstream effects on dopamine play a key role in SSRI-responsive disorders specifically. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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3 of the 429 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. REVIEW .............................................................................................................................................. Neuropsychopharmacology REVIEWS
  2. Review.
  3. Larsen R, Diener E (1992). Promises and problems with the circumplex model of emotion. In: Clark M (ed). Review of Personality and Social Psychology: Emotion. Sage: Newbury Park, CA. Vol. 13, pp 25-29.
  4. REVIEW .............................................................................................................................................. Neuropsychopharmacology REVIEWS
  5. Sutton RS, Barto AG (1998). Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (Adaptive Computation and Machine Learning. The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA. Key treatise on reinforcement learning, providing a tutorial introduction to the basic methods used throughout the affective decision-making literature to model behavior and neural responses.

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Authors
Boureau, Y.-L., & Dayan, P.
Affiliations
  • Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (US)
  • Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit (GB)
Venue
Neuropsychopharmacology
Published
2010-09-29
Volume
36
Issue
1
Pages
74-97
ISSN
  • 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
  • 1740-634X
OpenAlex
W1965692465
Cited by
456
References
429
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 43 · 2012: 38
FWCI
2.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
dopamine, serotonin, emotional valence, reward, punishment, instrumental responding, decision-making, inhibition, neurotransmitter interactions
MeSH terms
Affect, Animals, Avoidance Learning, Brain, Brain Chemistry, Conflict, Psychological, Decision Making, Dopamine, Humans, Motivation, Reinforcement, Psychology, Serotonin

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