Developmental Effects of Oxytocin Neurons on Social Affiliation and Processing of Social Information.

ABSTRACT: Hormones regulate behavior either through activational effects that facilitate the acute expression of specific behaviors or through organizational effects that shape the development of the nervous system thereby altering adult behavior. Much research has implicated the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) in acute modulation of various aspects of social behaviors across vertebrate species, and OXT signaling is associated with the developmental social deficits observed in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs); however, little is known about the role of OXT in the neurodevelopment of the social brain. We show that perturbation of OXT neurons during early zebrafish development led to a loss of dopaminergic neurons, associated with visual processing and reward, and blunted the neuronal response to social s

SUBMITTER: Nunes AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8528494 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature