A Third-Party Facilitator of Bipartisanship

Abstract

Often times, biological processes are reminiscent of a two-party system, wherein two differential or opposing forces must coordinate to achieve a balanced output, and drug addiction is no exception. In the nucleus accumbens (NAc), the two parties in play are D1 and D2 dopamine receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons (MSNs). Differentially embedded in NAc circuits, D1 and D2 MSNs regulate different aspects of motivated behaviors related to drug addiction, very often, in an opposing manner (1). To form coherent and reliable behavioral outputs, e.g., persistent cue-induced drug seeking, cooperative, as opposed to individualistic, adaptations between these two neuronal types is required. However, as we've witnessed with many two-party systems, reaching any sort of bipartisan deal is difficult when left to the two insiders.