Dopamine in the medial amygdala network mediates human bonding
Open accessAbstract
Research in humans and nonhuman animals indicates that social affiliation, and particularly maternal bonding, depends on reward circuitry. Although numerous mechanistic studies in rodents demonstrated that maternal bonding depends on striatal dopamine transmission, the neurochemistry supporting maternal behavior in humans has not been described so far. In this study, we tested the role of central dopamine in human bonding. We applied a combined functional MRI-PET scanner to simultaneously probe mothers' dopamine responses to their infants and the connectivity between the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), the amygdala, and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which form an intrinsic network (referred to as the "medial amygdala network") that supports social functioning. We also measured the mothers' behavioral synchrony with their infants and plasma oxytocin. The results of this study suggest that synchronous maternal behavior is associated with increased dopamine responses to the mother's infant and stronger intrinsic connectivity within the medial amygdala network. Moreover, stronger network connectivity is associated with increased dopamine responses within the network and decreased plasma oxytocin. Together, these data indicate that dopamine is involved in human bonding. Compared with other mammals, humans have an unusually complex social life. The complexity of human bonding cannot be fully captured in nonhuman animal models, particularly in pathological bonding, such as that in autistic spectrum disorder or postpartum depression. Thus, investigations of the neurochemistry of social bonding in humans, for which this study provides initial evidence, are warranted.
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These behavioural findings were supported by stronger intrinsic connectivity within the medial AMY network, encompassing the NAc, the AMY and the medial PFC, all involved in prosocial behaviour regulation.
“These behavioural findings were supported by stronger intrinsic connectivity within the medial AMY network, encompassing the NAc, the AMY and the medial PFC, all involved in prosocial behaviour regulation.”
From Convergence of oxytocin and dopamine signalling in neuronal circuits: Insights into the neurobiology of social interactions across species (2024) · cites this paper as Atzil et al., 2017
In mothers watching videos of their children compared with unfamiliar children, there was a significant positive correlation between synchronized maternal behaviour and heightened D2-type dopamine receptor response to the infant, tracked by changes in [11C]raclopride binding in many brain areas including the NAc.
“The findings showed a significant positive correla tion between synchronized maternal behaviour and heightened D2-type dopamine receptor response to the infant, tracked by changes in [11C] raclopride binding in many brain areas including the NAc.”
From Convergence of oxytocin and dopamine signalling in neuronal circuits: Insights into the neurobiology of social interactions across species (2024) · cites this paper as Atzil et al., 2017
Plasma OXT positively correlated with vocalisation synchrony.
“In addition, plasma OXT positively correlated with vocalisation synchrony”
From Convergence of oxytocin and dopamine signalling in neuronal circuits: Insights into the neurobiology of social interactions across species (2024) · cites this paper as Atzil et al., 2017
In human mothers, behavioral synchrony between mother and infant is related to changes in endogenous dopamine and the functional connectivity of the nucleus accumbens, medial amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex.
“In human mothers, behavioral synchrony between mother and infant is related to changes in endogenous DA and the functional connectivity of the NAc, MeA, and the medial (mPFC), together comprising the MeA network implicated in social functioning [43,44].”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [43]
Many structures of the social brain network and social decision-making network have been implicated in human social function.
“Many of the structures of the SBN and SDMN have been implicated in human social function [43,46,81].”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [43]
In response to the own infant, plasma OXT tended to positively correlate with DA responses in the NAc, indexed by changes in [11C]raclopride binding potential.
“In response to the own infant, plasma OXT also tended to positively correlate with DA responses in the NAc, indexed by changes in [11C]raclopride binding potential.”
From Convergence of oxytocin and dopamine signalling in neuronal circuits: Insights into the neurobiology of social interactions across species (2024) · cites this paper as Atzil et al., 2017
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- Authors
- Atzil, S., Touroutoglou, A., Rudy, T., Salcedo, S., Feldman, R., Hooker, J. M., Dickerson, B. C., Catana, C., & Barrett, L. F.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Northeastern University (US)
- Bar-Ilan University (IL)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2017-02-13
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2361-2366
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC5338494
- OpenAlex
- W2589089564
- Cited by
- 182
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 9
- FWCI
- 37.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- HHS | NIH | National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1R21HD076164-01A1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- dopamine, maternal bonding, social bonding, nucleus accumbens, medial prefrontal cortex, oxytocin, intrinsic functional connectivity, reward systems, social affiliation, autism spectrum disorder, postpartum depression
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Carbon Isotopes, Dopamine, Female, Humans, Infant, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Mother-Child Relations, Nucleus Accumbens, Object Attachment, Oxytocin, Reward, Prefrontal Cortex, Receptors, Dopamine D2, Raclopride, Connectome, Corticomedial Nuclear Complex
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