小柯机器人

美国哥伦比亚大学Ishmail Abdus-Saboor研究组发现，触摸神经元是多巴胺能愉悦触摸和性接受的基础。2023年1月23日，国际知名学术期刊《细胞》在线发表了这一成果。

研究人员报道了Mrgprb4谱系神经元的社会相关性，并揭示了这些神经元是性接受所必需的，且足以诱导大脑释放多巴胺。即使在社会隔离中，通过背部皮肤对Mrgprb4谱系神经元的光遗传刺激也足以诱导一种条件性的位置偏好和类似于前凸性交姿势的显著背屈。在Mrgprb4谱系神经元缺失的情况下，雌性小鼠不再认为雄性坐骑是有回报的：性接受性被攻击性取代，伏隔核中的多巴胺释放也随之下降。总之，这些发现证实了Mrgprb4谱系神经元启动了一个皮肤到大脑的回路，其编码社交接触的奖励质量。

据了解，在包括性接触在内的社会行为中，愉快的接触是至关重要的。然而，传递性接触的感觉神经元的身份和确切作用仍然未知。G蛋白偶联受体Mrgprb4发育表达标记的感觉神经元群体检测小鼠的机械刺激。

附：英文原文

Title: Touch neurons underlying dopaminergic pleasurable touch and sexual receptivity

Author: Leah J. Elias, Isabella K. Succi, Melanie D. Schaffler, William Foster, Mark A. Gradwell, Manon Bohic, Akira Fushiki, Aman Upadhyay, Lindsay L. Ejoh, Ryan Schwark, Rachel Frazer, Brittany Bistis, Jessica E. Burke, Victoria Saltz, Jared E. Boyce, Anissa Jhumka, Rui M. Costa, Victoria E. Abraira, Ishmail Abdus-Saboor

Issue&Volume: 2023-01-23

Abstract: Pleasurable touch is paramount during social behavior, including sexual encounters. However, the identity and precise role of sensory neurons that transduce sexual touch remain unknown. A population of sensory neurons labeled by developmental expression of the G protein-coupled receptor Mrgprb4 detects mechanical stimulation in mice. Here, we study the social relevance of Mrgprb4-lineage neurons and reveal that these neurons are required for sexual receptivity and sufficient to induce dopamine release in the brain. Even in social isolation, optogenetic stimulation of Mrgprb4-lineage neurons through the back skin is sufficient to induce a conditioned place preference and a striking dorsiflexion resembling the lordotic copulatory posture. In the absence of Mrgprb4-lineage neurons, female mice no longer find male mounts rewarding: sexual receptivity is supplanted by aggression and a coincident decline in dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Together, these findings establish that Mrgprb4-lineage neurons initiate a skin-to-brain circuit encoding the rewarding quality of social touch.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.12.034

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)01577-X