Molecular and neurocircuitry mechanisms of social avoidance
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Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
REVIEW
Molecular and neurocircuitry mechanisms of social avoidance Anne‑Kathrin Gellner2 · Jella Voelter3 · Ulrike Schmidt2,5 · Eva Carolina Beins6 · Valentin Stein7 · Alexandra Philipsen2 · René Hurlemann1,3,4 Received: 30 May 2020 / Revised: 9 September 2020 / Accepted: 15 September 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Humans and animals live in social relationships shaped by actions of approach and avoidance. Both are crucial for normal physical and mental development, survival, and well-being. Active withdrawal from social interaction is often induced by the perception of threat or unpleasant social experience and relies on adaptive mechanisms within neuronal networks associated with social behavior. In case of confrontation with overly strong or persistent stressors and/or dispositions of the affected individual, maladaptive processes in the neuronal circuitries and its associated transmitters and modulators lead to pathological social avoidance. This review focuses on active, fear-driven social avoidance, affected circuits within the mesocorticolimbic system and associated regions and a selection of molecular modulators that promise translational potential. A comprehensive review of human research in this field is followed by a reflection on animal studies that offer a broader and often more detailed range of analytical methodologies. Finally, we take a critical look at challenges that could be addressed in future translational research on fear-driven social avoidance. Keywords Social avoidance · Social anxiety · Neuronal circuits · Modulators of behavior · Translational models
Introduction From an evolutionary perspective, the social environment is not only crucial for survival and reproductive success but substantially shapes physical and mental health [1]. Under
* René Hurlemann [email protected] 1
Division of Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Venusberg‑Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany
2
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg‑Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany
3
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Hermann‑Ehlers‑Str. 7, 26160 Bad Zwischenahn, Germany
4
Research Center Neurosensory Science, University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
5
Department of Psychiatry Und Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, Von‑Siebold‑Str. 5, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
6
Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg‑Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany
7
Institute of Physiology II, University Hospital Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
certain circumstances and in response to environmental cues, social species including humans can deviate from their social nature and avoid social contact. Such behavior includes healthy as well as pathological manifestations. In animals, social avoidance can function as a survival technique or is part of submissive behavior, often provoked by social threat, e.g. an intruding domina
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