AUTHOR=Cid-Jofré Valeska , Bahamondes Tamara , Zúñiga Correa Agustina , Ahumada Arias Ivalú , Reyes-Parada Miguel , Renard Georgina M. 

TITLE=Psychostimulants and social behaviors

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2024.1364630

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2024.1364630

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>Mounting evidence from animal models and human studies indicates that psychostimulants can significantly affect social behaviors. This is not surprising considering that the neural circuits underlying the regulation and expression of social behaviors are highly overlapped with those targeted by psychostimulants, which in most cases have strong rewarding and, consequently, addictive properties. In the present work, we provide an overview regarding the effects of illicit and prescription psychostimulants, such as cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants, methylphenidate or modafinil, upon social behaviors such as social play, maternal behavior, aggression, pair bonding and social cognition and how psychostimulants in both animals and humans alter them. Finally, we discuss why these effects can vary depending on numerous variables such as the type of drug considered, acute <italic>versus</italic> long-term use, clinical <italic>versus</italic> recreational consumption, or the presence or absence of concomitant risk factors.</p>