Oxytocin receptors modulate a social salience neural network in male prairie voles.

ABSTRACT: Social behavior is regulated by conserved neural networks across vertebrates. Variation in the organization of neuropeptide systems across these networks is thought to contribute to individual and species diversity in network function during social contexts. For example, oxytocin (OT) is an ancient neuropeptide that binds to OT receptors (OTRs) in the brain and modulates social and reproductive behavior across vertebrate species, including humans. Central OTRs exhibit extraordinarily diverse expression patterns that are associated with individual and species differences in social behavior. In voles, OTR density in the nucleus accumbens (NAc)-a region important for social and reward learning-is associated with individual and species variation in social attachment behavior. Here we test whet

SUBMITTER: Johnson ZV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5207344 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature