Distinct subcircuits within the mesolimbic dopamine system encode the salience and valence of social stimuli.

Unlabelled: The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system (MDS) is the canonical "reward" pathway that has been studied extensively in the context of the rewarding properties of sex, food, and drugs of abuse. In contrast, very little is known about the role of the MDS in the processing of the rewarding and aversive properties of social stimuli. Social interactions can be characterized by their salience (i.

Measurement of the Isolated Nuclear Two-Photon Decay in ^{72}Ge.

The nuclear two-photon or double-gamma (2γ) decay is a second-order electromagnetic process whereby a nucleus in an excited state emits two gamma rays simultaneously. To be able to directly measure the 2γ decay rate in the low-energy regime below the electron-positron pair-creation threshold, we combined the isochronous mode of a storage ring with Schottky resonant cavities. The newly developed technique can be applied to isomers with excitation energies down to ∼100  keV and half-lives as short as ∼10  ms.

Sex-dependent regulation of social avoidance by oxytocin signaling in the ventral tegmental area.

It has been hypothesized that oxytocin increases the salience of social stimuli, whether the valence is positive or negative, through its interactions with the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Indeed, oxytocin neurons project to the VTA and activate dopamine neurons that are necessary for social experiences with positive valence. Surprisingly, though, there has not been an investigation of the role of oxytocin in the VTA in mediating social experiences with negative valence (e.

Embedded macrophages induce intravascular coagulation in 3D blood vessel-on-chip.

Macrophages are innate immune cells that prevent infections and help in wound healing and vascular inflammation. While these cells are natural helper cells, they also contribute to chronic diseases, e.g.

Sex differences in the impact of social status on social reward and associated mesolimbic activation.

Social stress plays an important role in the etiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders and can lead to a variety of behavioral deficits such as social withdrawal. One way that social stress may contribute to psychiatric disorders is by reducing social motivation and the rewarding properties of social interactions. We investigated the impact of social stress on social reward in the context of winning versus losing agonistic encounters in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).