It is well established that the nonapeptide oxytocin (Oxt) is important for the neural modulation of behaviors in many mammalian species. Since its discovery in 1906 and synthesis in the early 1950s, elegant pharmacological work has helped identify specific neural substrates on which Oxt exerts its effects. More recently, mice with targeted genetic disruptions of the Oxt system-i.e., both the peptide and its receptor (the Oxtr)-have further defined Oxt's actions and laid some important scientific groundwork for studies in other species. In this article, we highlight the scientific contributions that various mouse knockouts of the Oxt system have made to our understanding of Oxt's modulation of behavior. We specifically focus on how the use of these mice has shed light on our understanding of social recognition memory, maternal behavior, aggression, and several nonsocial behaviors. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 190-201, 2017.

The arginine vasopressin 1b receptor (Avpr1b) is involved in the modulation of a variety of behaviors and is an important part of the mammalian hormonal stress axis. The Avpr1b is prominent in hippocampal CA2 pyramidal cells and in the anterior pituitary corticotrophs. Decades of research on this receptor has demonstrated its importance to the modulation of social recognition memory, social forms of aggression, and modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, particularly under conditions of acute stress. Further, work in humans suggests that the Avpr1b may play a role in human neuropsychiatric disorders and its modulation may have therapeutic potential. This paper reviews what is known about the role of the Avpr1b in the context of social behaviors, the stress axis, and human neuropsychiatric disorders. Further, possible mechanisms for how Avpr1b activation within the hippocampus vs. Avpr1b activation within anterior pituitary may interact with one another to affect behavioral output are proposed.

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