Qualche nozione interessante sui polimorfismi, acetilazione e metilazione...... Tratto da Neurobiology of Social Behavior TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROSOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL BRAIN

A primer of the neural systems involved in social behavior across mammals is presented. Definitions of motivation and distinctions between proactive goal-directed (approach or avoidance) and reflexive consummatory behaviors are described. Interactions between the hypothalamus and mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system regulate goal-directed behaviors by influencing whether stimuli are processed across amygdala–striatal–pallidal circuits. Different hypothalamic nuclei regulate different social behaviors, and the interaction between a hypothalamic nucleus and the mesolimbic DA system is conceived as one between a specific and a nonspecific motivational system. Distinct amygdala neurons process either appetitive (pleasant) or aversive stimuli, leading to either approach/attraction or avoidance/rejection responses. The prefrontal cortex, through distinct connections, can either upregulate or downregulate a variety of motivational and emotional processes via influences on the amygdala, nucleus accumbens (ventral striatum), and hypothalamus. The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging and optogenetic methods in defining neural processes relevant to social behavior is described.