课题组人员研究了催产素在母鼠与母鼠急性分离和团聚时的社会行为中的作用。母体急性分离后催产素神经元活性增加。在行为上，母鼠分离后的幼崽在团聚时发出更多的超声波，这进一步受到乳头附着行为的调节。在母体分离期间，阻断催产素受体可减弱这些影响。在母亲分离期间，光遗传沉默催产素神经元破坏了分离和团聚期间的发声行为。他们的发现揭示了催产素在无主题幼鼠的语境依赖性声音交流中的重要作用。
研究人员表示，催产素在一生中塑造社会行为是必不可少的。尽管催产素信号在亲代抚育中的作用已被广泛研究，但其在早期社会行为中的作用却鲜为人知。
Title: Oxytocin signaling regulates maternally directed behavior during early life
Author: Daniel D. Zelmanoff, Rebecca Bornstein, Menachem Kaufman, Julien Dine, Jonas Wietek, Anna Litvin, Shaked Abraham, Savanna Cohen, Ayelet Atzmon, Ido Porat, Ofer Yizhar
Issue&Volume: 2025-09-11
Abstract: Oxytocin is essential in shaping social behavior across the lifespan. Although the role of oxytocin signaling in parental care has been widely investigated, little is known about its function in social behavior during early life. We studied the role of oxytocin in mouse pup social behavior during acute separation from the mother as well as upon reunion. The activity of oxytocin neurons was increased by acute maternal separation. Behaviorally, maternally separated pups emitted more ultrasonic vocalizations upon reunion, which were further modulated by nipple attachment behavior. These effects were attenuated by blocking the oxytocin receptor during maternal separation. Optogenetic silencing of oxytocin neurons during maternal separation disrupted vocal behavior during separation and reunion. Our findings reveal an important role of oxytocin in context-dependent vocal communication in mouse pups.
DOI: ado5609
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado5609