| First Author | Elias LJ | Year | 2023 |
| Journal | Cell | Volume | 186 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 577-590.e16 |
| PubMed ID | 36693373 | Mgi Jnum | J:337518 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7432229 | Doi | 10.1016/j.cell.2022.12.034 |
| Citation | Elias LJ, et al. (2023) Touch neurons underlying dopaminergic pleasurable touch and sexual receptivity. Cell 186(3):577-590.e16 |
| abstractText | 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. |
