Objective This project asks ‘Do oxytocin and dopamine systems interact in the human brain?’. It will encompass an innovative, inter- disciplinary method combining established techniques in neuropharmacology, neuroimaging and genetics. It will use a mentalizing (social dilemma) task where it is hypothesized that the trust-eliciting reward value of mutual cooperation is coded by both dopaminergic and oxytocinergic actions in the striatum. Support for this comes from dopamine´s well-characterized role in reward learning and oxytocin’s recently found impact on affiliate and cooperative behavior and its neurocorrelates. As a way of assessing these systems, I will combine, for the first time, oxytocin and dopamine manipulations; as well as integrate information from natural genetic variability to further support my predictions. The underlying assumption is that acute changes in their striatal levels as well as chronic predispositions affecting their systems can influence striatal activation during social reward processing. (Chronic predispositions arising from environmental historical events and personality will also be taken into account.)There is robust evidence that interplay between the dopamine and the oxytocine systems is crucial for social cognition from animal studies, however this has not yet been investigated in humans. The question is paramount and timely as mental illness enigmas involving trust/paranoia, social avolition and anxiety or drug addiction are still unresolved and new oxytocinergic therapies are now being clinically trialed for autism and schizophrenia (and partially to complement dopaminergic ones, as in the case of the latter). The ultimate goal herein is to inform the rational design of treatments for these conditions by better understanding the biological underpinnings of human social cognition, in respect to trust and social behaviour. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsmedical and health sciencesclinical medicinepsychiatryschizophrenia Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG - Marie-Curie Action: "Career Integration Grants" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG) Coordinator FCIENCIAS.ID - ASSOCIACAO PARA A INVESTIGACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO DE CIENCIAS EU contribution € 22 916,67 Address CAMPO GRANDE, EDIFICIO C1, PISO 3 1749 016 Lisbon Portugal See on map Region Continente Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Livia Moreira Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Participants (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all INSTITUTO DE MEDICINA MOLECULAR JOAO LOBO ANTUNES Participation ended Portugal EU contribution € 77 083,33 Address AVENIDA PROF EGAS MONIZ 1649 028 Lisboa See on map Region Continente Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Joana Costa (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data