scholarly journals Oxytocin Signaling in the Medial Amygdala is required for Sex Discrimination of Social Cues

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shenqin Yao ◽  
Joseph Bergan ◽  
Anne Lanjuin ◽  
Catherine Dulac
Keyword(s):  
Neural Control ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Medial Amygdala ◽  
Male Mice ◽  
Vomeronasal System ◽  
Unit Recording

AbstractThe neural control of social behaviors in rodents requires the encoding of pheromonal cues by the vomeronasal system. Here we show that the typical preference of male mice for females is eliminated in mutants lacking oxytocin, a neuropeptide modulating social behaviors in many species. Ablation of the oxytocin receptor in aromatase expressing neurons of the medial amygdala (MeA) fully recapitulates the elimination of female preference in males. Further, single unit recording in the MeA uncovered significant changes in the sensory representation of conspecific cues in the absence of oxytocin signaling. Finally, acute manipulation of oxytocin signaling in adults is sufficient to alter social interaction preferences in males as well as responses of MeA neurons to chemosensory cues. These results uncover the critical role of oxytocin signaling in a molecularly defined neuronal population in order to modulate the behavioral and physiological responses of male mice to females on a moment-to-moment basis.

scholarly journals Oxytocin signaling in the medial amygdala is required for sex discrimination of social cues

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shenqin Yao ◽  
Joseph Bergan ◽  
Anne Lanjuin ◽  
Catherine Dulac
Keyword(s):  
Neural Control ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Medial Amygdala ◽  
Male Mice ◽  
Vomeronasal System ◽  
Unit Recording

The neural control of social behaviors in rodents requires the encoding of pheromonal cues by the vomeronasal system. Here we show that the typical preference of male mice for females is eliminated in mutants lacking oxytocin, a neuropeptide modulating social behaviors in many species. Ablation of the oxytocin receptor in aromatase-expressing neurons of the medial amygdala (MeA) fully recapitulates the elimination of female preference in males. Further, single-unit recording in the MeA uncovered significant changes in the sensory representation of conspecific cues in the absence of oxytocin signaling. Finally, acute manipulation of oxytocin signaling in adults is sufficient to alter social interaction preferences in males as well as responses of MeA neurons to chemosensory cues. These results uncover the critical role of oxytocin signaling in a molecularly defined neuronal population in order to modulate the behavioral and physiological responses of male mice to females on a moment-to-moment basis.

Critical role of TLR4 in uncovering the increased rewarding effects of cocaine and ethanol induced by social defeat in male mice

2021 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 108368
Author(s):  
S. Montagud-Romero ◽  
M.D. Reguilón ◽  
M. Pascual ◽  
M.C. Blanco-Gandía ◽  
C. Guerri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Social Defeat ◽  
Male Mice

scholarly journals What Neuroscientific Studies Tell Us about Inhibition of Return

Vision ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Satel ◽  
Nicholas R. Wilson ◽  
Raymond M. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Inhibition Of Return ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Direct Methods ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Developmental Studies ◽  
Unit Recording ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Lesion Studies

An inhibitory aftermath of orienting, inhibition of return (IOR), has intrigued scholars since its discovery about 40 years ago. Since then, the phenomenon has been subjected to a wide range of neuroscientific methods and the results of these are reviewed in this paper. These include direct manipulations of brain structures (which occur naturally in brain damage and disease or experimentally as in TMS and lesion studies) and measurements of brain activity (in humans using EEG and fMRI and in animals using single unit recording). A variety of less direct methods (e.g., computational modeling, developmental studies, etc.) have also been used. The findings from this wide range of methods support the critical role of subcortical and cortical oculomotor pathways in the generation and nature of IOR.

Detection of estrus by male mice: Synergistic role of olfactory–vomeronasal system

2010 ◽  
Vol 477 (3) ◽  
pp. 144-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanmugam Achiraman ◽  
Ponnirul Ponmanickam ◽  
Devaraj Sankar Ganesh ◽  
Govindaraju Archunan
Keyword(s):  
Male Mice ◽  
Vomeronasal System

scholarly journals Effects of Prepubertal or Adult Site-Specific Knockdown of Estrogen Receptor β in the Medial Preoptic Area and Medial Amygdala on Social Behaviors in Male Mice

eNeuro ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. ENEURO.0155-15.2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariko Nakata ◽  
Kazuhiro Sano ◽  
Sergei Musatov ◽  
Naoko Yamaguchi ◽  
Toshiro Sakamoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Estrogen Receptor ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Medial Preoptic Area ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Β ◽  
Medial Amygdala ◽  
Male Mice ◽  
Site Specific

scholarly journals The critical role of uterine CD31 as a post-progesterone signal in early pregnancy

Reproduction ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 154 (5) ◽  
pp. 595-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seo-Ho Lee ◽  
Byung-Ju Kim ◽  
Uh-Hyun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Early Pregnancy ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Hormone Treatment ◽  
Endothelial Cell Migration ◽  
Male Mice ◽  
Uterine Receptivity ◽  
Female Mice ◽  
Blastocyst Implantation ◽  
And Function

CD31 has been shown to play a role in endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis, which are critical to the formation and function of the endometrium and myometrium in uterine development during early pregnancy. However, the role of CD31 in uterine receptivity during blastocyst implantation is poorly understood. The pregnancy rate in CD31−/− female mice mated with CD31+/+ male mice was higher than that observed in CD31+/+ female mice mated with CD31+/+ male mice. During the receptive phase of implantation, uterine glands were more developed in CD31−/− mice than in CD31+/+ mice, and the uterine weights of CD31−/− mice were increased. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) was highly expressed in the CD31−/− mice during implantation and the expression of LIF was up-regulated by estradiol-17β (E2) + progesterone (P4) in ovariectomized CD31−/− mice, compared with CD31+/+ mice at 8 h after hormone treatment. E2-induced protein synthesis was inhibited by P4 in the CD31+/+ uterus, but not in the uterus of CD31−/− mice. Also, STAT3, HAND2, LIF, and mTOR signals were enhanced in CD31−/− mice. Stromal DNA replication was highly activated in the uterus of CD31−/− mice, manifested by upregulated cyclin series signaling and PCNA expression after E2 + P4treatment. Collectively, CD31 inhibits E2-mediated epithelial proliferation via recruitment and phosphorylation of SHP-2 upon receiving P4signal in early pregnancy.

scholarly journals Pubertal activation of estrogen receptor α in the medial amygdala is essential for the full expression of male social behavior in mice

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (27) ◽  
pp. 7632-7637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Sano ◽  
Mariko Nakata ◽  
Sergei Musatov ◽  
Masahiro Morishita ◽  
Toshiro Sakamoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Estrogen Receptor ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Α ◽  
Medial Amygdala ◽  
Male Mice ◽  
Aggressive Behaviors ◽  
Intact Male ◽  
Male Type ◽  
Full Expression

Testosterone plays a central role in the facilitation of male-type social behaviors, such as sexual and aggressive behaviors, and the development of their neural bases in male mice. The action of testosterone via estrogen receptor (ER) α, after being aromatized to estradiol, has been suggested to be crucial for the full expression of these behaviors. We previously reported that silencing of ERα in adult male mice with the use of a virally mediated RNAi method in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) greatly reduced sexual behaviors without affecting aggressive behaviors whereas that in the medial amygdala (MeA) had no effect on either behavior. It is well accepted that testosterone stimulation during the pubertal period is necessary for the full expression of male-type social behaviors. However, it is still not known whether, and in which brain region, ERα is involved in this developmental effect of testosterone. In this study, we knocked down ERα in the MeA or MPOA in gonadally intact male mice at the age of 21 d and examined its effects on the sexual and aggressive behaviors later in adulthood. We found that the prepubertal knockdown of ERα in the MeA reduced both sexual and aggressive behaviors whereas that in the MPOA reduced only sexual, but not aggressive, behavior. Furthermore, the number of MeA neurons was reduced by prepubertal knockdown of ERα. These results indicate that ERα activation in the MeA during the pubertal period is crucial for male mice to fully express their male-type social behaviors in adulthood.

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