Social functions of individual vasopressin–oxytocin cell groups in vertebrates: What do we really know?

Kelly, Aubrey M.; Goodson, James L.

doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2014.04.005

Cited by 144 publications

(134 citation statements)

References 208 publications

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“…Furthermore, we know of no study demonstrating a role for parvocellular MT-producing neurons in social behaviour regulation. These findings also support a view of OT/MT as being important in male courtship [17,18], despite this neuropeptide's more prevalent involvement in female social behaviour [3,4].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Involvement of different mesotocin (oxytocin homologue) populations in sexual and aggressive behaviours of the brown anole

Kabelik

Magruder

2014

Biol. Lett.

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The oxytocin (OT) family of neuropeptides are known to modulate social behaviours and anxiety in mammals and birds. We investigated cell numbers and neural activity, assessed as Fos induction, within magnocellular and parvocellular populations of neurons producing the OT homologue mesotocin (MT, Ile 8 -oxytocin). This was conducted within the male brown anole lizard, Anolis sagrei, following agonistic or courtship encounters with a conspecific. Both neurons colocalizing and not colocalizing corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) were examined. Parvocellular neurons of the paraventricular nucleus exhibited a positive correlation between courtship frequency and Fos colocalization, regardless of whether they produce just MT or MT þ CRF. Magnocellular populations showed only trends towards positive relationships with courtship and no cell populations showed aggression-related Fos induction. These findings are novel because they demonstrate the involvement of MT neurons in male social behaviour, especially in reptiles for whom the involvement of MT in social behaviour was previously unknown.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Involvement of different mesotocin (oxytocin homologue) populations in sexual and aggressive behaviours of the brown anole

Kabelik

Magruder

2014

Biol. Lett.

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“…Aromatization of T into E2 has been shown to mediate aggression in male Japanese quail, Coturnix japonica (Schlinger & Callard, 1990), but little is known of a similar relationship in female birds. Oxytocin, which acts as a modulator of aggression and affiliative behaviours in birds, and which induces egg laying, might also be influential to aggression during incubation (Goodson, Schrock, & Kingsbury, 2015;Johnson, 2015;Kelly & Goodson, 2014). Although concentrations of oxytocin following the onset of incubation should decrease, activation of various brain nuclei following an increase and then a decrease in this hormone could be influential.…”

Section: Other Potential Hormonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering that circulating T is present during periods when females of many species are aggressively defending nests, it is plausible that a relationship between T and avian maternal aggression could exist. Maternal aggression has been well studied in mammals (particularly rodents), and modulation of this behaviour has been linked to a number of hormones including oxytocin, vasopressin, progesterone and neurotransmitters such as serotonin (Angoa-P erez et al, 2014;Bosch & Neumann, 2012;Heiming et al, 2013;Kelly & Goodson, 2014;Sabihi, Dong, Durosko, & Leuner, 2014;de Sousa et al, 2010), but many of these hormones are also used in lactation, a process that birds do not undergo, and their links with aggression may be secondary to their main use. Here we compare circulating levels of T in female northern cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis (hereafter 'cardinals'), that were defending their nest from a simulated conspecific intruder to better understand how T and avian maternal aggression covary.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Testosterone might not be necessary to support female aggression in incubating northern cardinals

2015

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Keywords: aggressionCardinalis cardinalis corticosterone female incubation maternal aggression nest defence northern cardinal testosterone Testosterone's (T) influence on male aggression has been well established in many vertebrate species, but the impact of T on female aggressive behaviour is poorly understood. Among birds, a link between T and female aggression is plausible, as females of many species exhibit a seasonal peak in T concentrations at the onset of breeding when social instability is greatest and they may have circulating T through much of the breeding season. However, investigations examining the relationship between T and female aggression are few and have yielded conflicting results, with experimentally or endogenously elevated T supporting aggressive behaviour in females of some species but not others, and T elevating with aggression at some points of the reproductive cycle but not others. We examined the relationship between endogenous levels of T and female aggression in the northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, a resident temperate species in which pairs exhibit prolonged territoriality and females have measurable levels of T year-round, including all stages of reproduction (incubation, nestling feeding, etc.). Using simulated nest intrusions, we assessed aggressive responses of incubating females to intrasexual 'intruders' at the nest and quantified T levels after each aggressive encounter. Displays of aggression towards 'intruders' varied among females; yet, individuals showing greater levels of aggression did not demonstrate higher levels of T. These results imply that T might not support maternal aggression in this species.

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“…Oxytocin, which is mainly synthesized in the hypothalamus and the bed nucleus stria terminalis (BNST), has been shown to be associated with social behaviors [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], to induce anti-stress or anxiolytic actions [16] and to induce analgesia [17]. Oxytocin is released from the neurohypophysis into the blood at birth and during lactation and acts on peripheral tissues.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activation of hypothalamic oxytocin neurons following tactile stimuli in rats

Okabe

Yoshida

Takayanagi

et al. 2015

Neuroscience Letters

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Social functions of individual vasopressin–oxytocin cell groups in vertebrates: What do we really know?

Cited by 144 publications

References 208 publications

Involvement of different mesotocin (oxytocin homologue) populations in sexual and aggressive behaviours of the brown anole

Involvement of different mesotocin (oxytocin homologue) populations in sexual and aggressive behaviours of the brown anole

Testosterone might not be necessary to support female aggression in incubating northern cardinals

Activation of hypothalamic oxytocin neurons following tactile stimuli in rats

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