What really makes us want to hang out with each other?
That is the question posed by neuroscientists at the University of Geneva.
Because even though social interaction is important for a social animal - it still requires a certain effort from the individual.
The results of the study published in Nature Neuroscience showed that the brain of a social animal releases dopamine when it is allowed to meet others.
Enjoys hanging out
To find out what mechanisms in the brain make us interested in engaging in each other, the researchers studied mice that were related to each other.
Two mice were placed on each side of a cage that was divided into two sections.
Between them was a door that opened briefly if one of the mice pressed a lever.
- The mouse understood that it had to press the lever to be with its relative.
In this way, we were able to measure the effort that the mice were willing to make to interact with each other, says Clément Solié who is one of the researchers in a press release.
Activated the reward system
To measure the activity in the animals' brains, researchers used electrodes connected to the mice.
It turned out that the family reunion activated neurons that release the lucky substance dopamine.
These are found in our reward system and are the same neurons that are activated when we receive some form of reward - as a piece of candy or a compliment.
If, on the other hand, the door to the neighboring mouse was not opened, a slower activity was observed in the brain.
Which suggests disappointment.
Can be used to understand social difficulties
Socializing with each other thus sets in motion our reward system.
Without activity in the reward system, we would not be interested in engaging with others.
The discovery therefore creates an understanding of which neurons one should study to understand social difficulties in conditions such as autism, schizophrenia or depression.
"We will now be able to examine these neurons to find possible treatments for these conditions," the researchers write.