Morphine reduces social cohesion in rats

doi:10.1016/0091-3057(79)90002-9

Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior

Volume 11, Issue 2, August 1979, Pages 131-134

https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-3057(79)90002-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

The effect of low (1 mg/kg) doses of morphine on maintenance of physical proximity were evaluated in paired rats observed in a 4 square foot test arena. Morphine reliably reduced proximity maintenance time, and this was apparently not due to sedation, since the effect was unmodified by doses of amphetamine which substantially increased motor activity. The effects of naloxone were inconsistent on this measure of social motivation. In general, the results are consistent with the theoretical proposition that a brain neurochemical change which might lead to social attraction is the activation of endogenous opioid systems. When opiate activity is exogenously sustained, animals exhibit a subnormal tendency to be gregarious.

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Citation Excerpt :
Morphine decreases social investigation in mice (Landauer and Balster, 1982; Kennedy et al., 2011). Moreover, opiate withdrawal attenuates social interaction and social play in adolescent rodents, as well as cohesion in group-housed rats (Panksepp et al., 1979; Panksepp et al., 1980b; Panksepp et al., 1985). However, it is unlikely that the increase in morphine reward and dependence seen in the morphine-only animals are solely due to a decrease in the total number of social interactions.
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Further evidence substantiated that, in general, when opioid agonists are administered to animals the motivation to seek social connections is markedly diminished. For example, administration of low (nonsedating) doses of opiates reduced the amount of time rats spend in proximity to each other [133] and decreased separation-induced distress vocalizations in infant guinea pigs [113]. If opioid compounds lessen the motivation for social interaction, it should follow that these drugs would be sought out by socially deprived animals.
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For contradictory results see Khurshid et al., 2010, in which a low dose but not two additional higher doses of opioid antagonist reduced directed song in male zebra finches). The findings in starlings are consistent with the results of multiple studies showing that opioid agonists generally inhibit whereas antagonists stimulate socio-sexual interactions (Carden et al., 1996; Herman and Panksepp, 1978; Kalin et al., 1995; Maney and Wingfield, 1998; Nocjar and Panksepp, 2007; Panksepp et al., 1978a, 1979, 1980; Plonsky and Freeman, 1982). If opioids underlie reward associated with song, then why would blocking opioids increase song production?
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Morphine reduces social cohesion in rats

Abstract

Pharmac. Biochem. Behav.

Trends Neurosci.

Brain Res. Bull.

Opioid peptides modulate luteinizing hormone secretion during sexual maturation

Science

The effects of chronic opiate treatment and social isolation on opiate receptors in the rodent brain

Altered analgesic responses to morphine in differentially housed mice

Pscyhopharmacology

Evidence for a role of endorphins in the control of prolactin secretion

Hyperalgesia induced by naloxone follows diurnal rhythm in responsitivity to painful stimuli

Science

Induction of copulatory behavior in sexually inactive rats by naloxone

Science