Variation in the Oxytocin Receptor Gene Predicts Brain Region-Specific Expression and Social Attachment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oxytocin (OXT) modulates several aspects of social behavior. Intranasal OXT is a leading candidate for treating social deficits in patients with autism spectrum disorder, and common genetic variants in the human OXTR gene are associated with emotion recognition, relationship quality, and autism spectrum disorder. Animal models have revealed that individual differences in Oxtr expression in the brain drive social behavior variation. Our understanding of how genetic variation contributes to brain OXTR expression is very limited.

Methods

We investigated Oxtr expression in monogamous prairie voles, which have a well-characterized OXT system. We quantified brain region-specific levels of Oxtr messenger RNA and oxytocin receptor protein with established neuroanatomic me

SUBMITTER: King LB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4909578 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature