Modulating the neuromodulators: dopamine, serotonin, and the endocannabinoid system. What is an animal emotion? Ann N Y Acad Sci. Oxytocin receptor distribution reflects social organization in monogamous and polygamous voles. The brain reward circuitry in mood disorders. Nucleus accumbens modulation in reward and aversion. Cellular mechanisms of social attachment. Oxytocin, neural plasticity, and social behavior. A framework for studying emotions across species. Rage against the machine: advancing the study of aggression ethology via machine learning. Neural circuit mechanisms of social behavior. Neural circuits of social behaviors: Innate yet flexible. Charney & Nestler’s neurobiology of mental illness. New York: Basic Books 2022.Ĭharney DS, Sklar PB, Buxbaum JD, Nestler EJ. The nature of the beast: how emotions guide us. Mama’s last hug: animal emotions and what they tell us about ourselves. We conclude by discussing approaches for the development of more efficacious and targeted therapeutic interventions to ameliorate aberrant prosocial behaviors.ĭe Waal FBM. We then describe how recent findings have helped elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the social deficits that accompany neuropsychiatric disorders. We highlight how modulation by oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission in specific brain regions is critical for regulation of adaptive prosocial interactions. In this review, we focus our discussion on recent findings that utilize modern approaches in rodents to map, monitor, and manipulate neural circuits implicated in a variety of prosocial behaviors. Impairments in prosocial behaviors, which occur in a large number of neuropsychiatric disorders, result from disruption of the coordinated activity of these neural circuits. These intricate and complex behaviors are mediated by an amalgamation of neural circuit mechanisms working in concert. Positive, prosocial interactions are essential for survival, development, and well-being.