Dopamine: brain chemical helps us understand other people – raising hopes for new treatments

By Bianca Shuster, Universität Wien, Jennifer Cook, University of Birmingham

The neurotransmitter dopamine is commonly known for its role in brain networks regulating pleasure and reward.

But many people with disorders that affect the dopamine system, such as Parkinson’s disease or schizophrenia, also struggle with social abilities. These include recognising or understanding the emotions and mental states of others, something scientists call the “theory of mind”.

These social difficulties can significantly impact the social relationships and quality of life of those affected. However, it has remained unclear whether these challenges are directly caused by dopamine imbalances or by other factors that co-occur with these disorders.

Now our new research, published in PLOS Biology, shows that a lack of dopamine seems to directly cause social difficulties. This suggests that dopamine-based drugs could one day also help treat the social difficulties in disorders with dopamine imbalances.

People with Parkinson’s disease often display fewer facial expressions than healthy individuals. Others may respond to this in negative ways – eventually leading sufferers to withdraw from social situations altogether. And people who are socially withdrawn for a long time can struggle more with social interactions as they don’t get a chance to practice (remember how difficult it was to return to the social world after lockdown?).

This is one possible explanation for why people with Parkinson’s might experience difficulties in understanding others.

However, it is not the only explanation. Parkinson’s is linked to the death of dopamine neurons in the brain. So some scientists have suspected that dopamine plays a key role in our ability to understand others.

Experimental design

Our latest study tested this latter explanation in 33 healthy individuals. We did this by giving people a drug intended to lower dopamine levels in parts of the brain by blocking the receptors that the neurotransmitter binds to.

We then assessed their theory of mind abilities by using an adaptation of a classical scientific experiment.

Read Full Story https://theconversation.com/dopamine-brain-chemical-helps-us-understand-other-people-raising-hopes-for-new-treatments-232837