Macaques with higher status have lower dependence on cocaine

2002/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

As Henry Kissinger said, power can be the best aphrodisiac, now scientists believe it can be better than drugs. In fact, in an experiment with macaques they have seen that people with higher status are less likely to become dependent on cocaine.

To see whether or not there was a relationship between drug status and addiction, macaques were divided into 5 groups depending on the social level. Quantifying the amount of their dopamine receptors, D2, saw that high-level macaques had more. Macaques were then taught to operate a lever.

Learning to do this, they joined tubes with a saline solution or an optional dose of cocaine. Analyzing the number of times that affected the lever, they observed that those of lower status preferred the dose of cocaine to the salt solution. On the other hand, in those of higher status the difference between both options was less evident. This could show that high levels of D2 receptors can be protected from drug addiction.