Early Life Adversity and Adult Social Behavior: Focus on Arginine Vasopressin and Oxytocin as Potential Mediators.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to stress during the early postnatal period (i.e., early life stress, ES) can impact brain physiology and modify individual variability in adult social behavior. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OXT) are two centrally released neuropeptides that are involved in shaping essential social behaviors, like aggression, social recognition, and social motivation. AVP and OXT modulate activity in brain regions important for the establishment of social behavior, and may be particularly sensitive to ES. In this review, we discuss whether ES alters the characteristics of the AVP- and OXT- systems in rodents, and whether these changes are associated with later alterations in aggression, social recognition, and social motivation. We have integrated causal studies indicating that (1) ES

SUBMITTER: Kompier NF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6676334 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature