SNP in neuropeptide receptor B/W 1 can alter the emotional response

Abstract

Breaking into individuals’ personal space by others sometimes evoke negative emotional responses like anxiety or discomfort, while contact with familiar ones might elicit emotion with positive valence. Knowing the mechanisms regulating emotion and behavior in response to personal space intrusion is important to understand social behavior. We identified a discrete population of neurons expressing neuropeptide B/W receptor 1 (Npbwr1) in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) (Npbwr1^CeA neurons) as an essential component for circuit regulating social behavior in response to change in distance between individuals. We found that in vivo calcium activity of Npbwr1CeA neurons was increased when social distance is shortened and vice versa. To understand the physiological role of Npbwr1 in the CeA, we utilized focal expression of NPBWR1 with or without single nucleotide polymorphism (A404Y SNP) in Npbwr1^CeA neurons of Npbwr1-deficient mice and found that the SNP affects social distance and emotional behavior. These observations suggest that Npbwr1^CeA neurons comprise a discrete neural circuit that plays an important role in regulating social distance and behavior and show a possibility to develop a new drug to treat the abnormal sociability sometimes seen in social phobia or adjustment disorder.