Conducting studies in female rats, the team found molecular indicators and regulators of social isolation. (Canvas photo)
A team of researchers from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS) found the brain’s biological response in different situations.
Being social and interacting with other creatures is an intrinsic quality of social animals like humans. However, he did not properly understand what the neural base of social species looks like in a situation opposite to socialism. This opposite situation became very prevalent with the onset of the epidemic when loneliness was not an event but a necessity. A team of researchers from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS) found the brain’s biological response in different situations. Conducting studies in female rats, the team found molecular indicators and regulators of social isolation. They found that the urge to interact with other rats was driven by a hormone called peptide amylin found in the medial preoptic area (MPOA). Located in the frontal lobe, the amount of peptide amylin fluctuates with varying levels of isolation.
The study, published in Nature Communications, used a method involving the analysis of amylin in different isolation situations. The researchers found that after isolating the rats for six days, Emilyn disappeared completely and returned to normal two weeks after the rats were reunited with their cage mates. Moreover, the levels of amylin fluctuated when the rats were split through the window, indicating that the rats were responsible for obtaining the company of fellow rats.
“Among the other recorded molecules, amylin is the one that responds most to isolation and reunion and facilitates self-contact-finding behaviors. It is necessary, “Kumi Kuroda, lead author of the study, told ANI.
Kuroda was able to combine the research with other studies conducted by his team in 2021. In the research, Kuroda discovered that the frontal lobe MPOA was also the region responsible for maternal care and that maternal motivation was driven by Emilin. Sensitive neurons in central MPOA. This link gives weight to the postulation that social instincts in adults develop from parental care.
