Oxytocin activation of paraventricular thalamic neurons promotes feeding motivation to attenuate stress-induced hypophagia.

ABSTRACT: The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) regulates important brain functions including feeding through activating OT receptors in multiple brain areas. Both OT fibers and OT receptors have been reported in the paraventricular thalamus (PVT), an area that was revealed to be important for the control of emotion, motivation, and food intake. However, the function and modulation of PVT OT signaling remain unknown. Here, we used a progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement to examine the role of PVT OT signaling in regulating the motivation for food and patch-clamp electrophysiology to study the modulation of OT on PVT neurons in brain slices. We demonstrate that PVT OT administration increases active lever presses to earn food rewards in both male and female mice under PR trials and OT receptor an

SUBMITTER: Barrett LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8114915 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature