Brain dopamine receptor density correlates with social status

People have typically viewed the benefits that accrue with social status primarily from the perspective of external rewards. A new study suggests that there are internal rewards as well. Researchers found that increased social status and increased social support correlated with the density of dopamine D2/D3 receptors in the striatum, a region of the brain that plays a central role in reward and motivation, where dopamine plays a critical role in both of these behavioral processes.

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