Social approach and social vigilance are differentially regulated by oxytocin receptors in the nucleus accumbens.

ABSTRACT: Oxytocin is currently being considered as a novel therapeutic for anxiety disorders due to its ability to promote affiliative behaviors. In the nucleus accumbens (NAc) activation of oxytocin receptors (OTR) promotes social approach (time spent near an unfamiliar individual). Here, we show that stressful social experiences reduce the expression of NAc OTR mRNA, coinciding with decreases in social approach. Social stressors also increase social vigilance, characterized as orienting to an unfamiliar individual without approaching. Vigilance is a key component of behavioral inhibition, a personality trait that is a risk factor for anxiety disorders. To understand whether NAc OTR can modulate both social approach and vigilance, we use pharmacological approaches to assess the impact of activatio

SUBMITTER: Williams AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7360746 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature