Clarifying human social decision-making process via brain immune cells - microglia -

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24650227
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Fusional social brain science
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: KATO Takahiro 九州大学, 先端融合医療レドックスナビ研究拠点, 特任准教授 (70546465)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ミクログリア / ミノサイクリン / 社会的意思決定 / 信頼ゲーム / 欲動 / 性格 / うつ病 / 社会的相互性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Microglial social roles remain unresolved. We conducted a double-blind randomized trial of trust game, a monetary decision-making game, with human adult males who decided how much to trust an anonymous partner after a four-day administration of minocycline, an antibiotic and the most famous microglial inhibitor. The monetary score was significantly lower in the minocycline group. Participants’ ways of decision-making were significantly shifted; cooperativeness, one component of personality, proved to be the main modulating factor of decision-making in the placebo group, on the other hand, the minocycline group was mainly modulated by state anxiety and trustworthiness.
Our results suggest that minocycline led to more situation-oriented decision-making, possibly by suppressing the effects of personality traits, and that personality and social behaviors may be modulated by microglia.

Free Research Field

精神医学