![]() These mice also have less activity in the neurons of the medial amygdala when exposed to females and their scents. In the experiments, male mice genetically engineered to lack oxytocin do not prefer female mice to other males, and they also appear unable to distinguish male and female scents. show that oxytocin controls male preference for interacting with females and their scents by turning on neurons in the medial amygdala. Oxytocin is known to act on the medial amygdala, but its exact role in the male’s preference for females and their scents is not known. The neurons in medial amygdala of male mice also become more active in response to scents from females than from males. Male mice prefer to investigate female mice to other males. Male and female mice respond differently to pheromones. Mice in particular rely on pheromones for social communication. The medial amygdala, in turn, connects with regions of the brain that control behavior. Pheromone-sensing neurons in the vomeronasal organ connect with another part of the brain called the medial amygdala. These chemicals are detected by neurons in a structure within the cartilage of the nose called the vomeronasal organ. Many mammals detect chemical signals called pheromones that are involved in social interactions. The oxytocin-producing neurons are clustered in a brain region called the hypothalamus, and oxytocin can act over a long distance in the brain or in the body. Oxytocin is made and released by cells in the brain called neurons. It has also been implicated in conditions like autism or schizophrenia, which show altered social interactions. Oxytocin is a hormone that promotes milk production, contractions during childbirth, and many social interactions in humans and other creatures. 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. 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. Further, single-unit recording in the MeA uncovered significant changes in the sensory representation of conspecific cues in the absence of oxytocin signaling. Ablation of the oxytocin receptor in aromatase-expressing neurons of the medial amygdala (MeA) fully recapitulates the elimination of female preference in males. 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. The neural control of social behaviors in rodents requires the encoding of pheromonal cues by the vomeronasal system.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |