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Updated: Jun 19, 2025

Peering into the Dynamics of Social Interactions: Measuring Play Fighting in Rats
Published on: January 18, 2013
Social play behavior is driven by glycine-dependent mechanisms
Anton Dvorzhak1, Michael Brecht2, Dietmar Schmitz3
1Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Neuroscience Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Social play is pervasive in juvenile mammals, yet it is poorly understood in terms of its underlying brain mechanisms. Specifically, we do not know why young animals are most playful and why most adults cease to social play. Here, we analyze the synaptic mechanisms underlying social play. We found that blocking the rat periaqueductal gray (PAG) interfered with social play. Furthermore, an age-related decrease of neural firing in the PAG is associated with a decrease in synaptic release of glycine. Most importantly, modulation of glycine concentration-apparently acting on the glycinergic binding site of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-not only strongly modulates social play but can also reverse the age-related decline in social play. In conclusion, we demonstrate that social play critically depends on the neurotransmitter glycine within the PAG.
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