What is the identity of the neural circuits involved in human possessiveness and obsession?

Discovering neural circuits involved in human 'possessiveness'

In March 2018, a study published in Nature Neuroscience by KAIST found that the 'anterior visual center' induces hunting behavior for objects and prey. It was found that the behavior of attachment to a particular object or food (possessiveness) is related to neural circuits in specific areas of the brain related to vision.

Neural circuits act as electrical cords in the human body, and various nerve cells are intertwined to form circuits to perform the functions of the brain. This is why the study of neural circuits is so important. This is because the functions performed by the brain depend on which nerve cells are connected and where they form circuits.

The circuit in which the nerves of the MPA (medial preoptic area) in the hypothalamus are connected to the vPAG* site in the midbrain was named 'MPA-PAG' and the red box was placed in the cage of mice for 3 days, and 'cFOS+ cells', an indicator of activity in neurons, were identified. By far, when I was with the goods, I saw a significant increase in cFOS+ in the MPA section. A significant increase was also observed in PAG. In other words, experiments have shown that neurons in the circuit are activated when mice are in the company of objects of interest.

*vPAG: ventral periaqueductal gray

In order to further elaborate this experiment, male mice that can artificially stimulate the MPA-PAG circuit were genetically engineered through a virus, and then the experiment was carried out so that the stimulation was only at the 473nm wavelength. In the experiment, when female mice and 473 nm wavelength light were ilated at the same time, the action potential of neurons was triggered only by the light, not by the female mice. These results suggest that MPA-PAG stimulation had an effect on non-social activities such as attachment to objects and food, rather than social activities directed at the opposite sex.

In addition, in the additional experiments, the rats showed interest in various types of objects and whether they had a sense of touch or not, and as a result of inducing the movement of mice according to the movement route planned in advance by the experimenter with light stimulation, it was concluded that the animal's movement could be induced only by its obsessive nature towards objects.

The first of two implications of this study is that we can use animal habits to connect the brain with computer-connected technology to control animal movements, and the second is that the association between object obsession and the MPA-PAG cycle has provided clues to the treatment of mental disorders associated with excessive obsession, such as kleptomania and compulsive collecting.