The role of oxytocin and vasopressin in conditioned mate guarding behavior in the female rat

Holley, Amanda; Bellevue, Shannon; Vosberg, Daniel E.; Wenzel, Kerstin; Roorda, Sieger; Pfaus, James G.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.02.039

Cited by 24 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This robust modulation of neural activity by IP OT may explain the behavioral changes seen after IP OT (Holley et al, 2015; Ramos et al, 2015). However, compared to ICV OT, sex differences in BOLD activation following IP OT were in different and far fewer brain regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Our findings further suggest that IP OT may have sexually dimorphic effects on behavior. Though IP OT injections have been found to modulate various social behaviors in male and female rats (Holley et al, 2015; Ramos et al, 2015), direct comparisons between the sexes are lacking. These comparisons could provide insight into the behavioral consequences of the observed sex-specific BOLD activation patterns following IP OT.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex differences in neural activation following different routes of oxytocin administration in awake adult rats

Dumais

Kulkarni

Ferris

et al. 2017

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) regulates social behavior in sex-specific ways across species. OT has promising effects on alleviating social deficits in sex-biased neuropsychiatric disorders. However little is known about potential sexually dimorphic effects of OT on brain function. Using the rat as a model organism, we determined whether OT administered centrally or peripherally induces sex differences in brain activation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal intensity changes in the brains of awake rats during the 20 min following intracerebroventricular (ICV; 1μg/5μl) or intraperitoneal (IP; 0.1mg/kg) OT administration as compared to baseline. ICV OT induced sex differences in BOLD activation in 26 out of 172 brain regions analyzed, with 20 regions showing a greater volume of activation in males (most notably the nucleus accumbens and insular cortex), and 6 regions showing a greater volume of activation in females (including the lateral and central amygdala). IP OT also elicited sex differences in BOLD activation with a greater volume of activation in males, but this activation was found in different and fewer (10) brain regions compared to ICV OT. In conclusion, exogenous OT modulates neural activation differently in male versus female rats with the pattern and magnitude, but not the direction, of sex differences depending on the route of administration. These findings highlight the need to include both sexes in basic and clinical studies to fully understand the role of OT on brain function.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex differences in neural activation following different routes of oxytocin administration in awake adult rats

Dumais

Kulkarni

Ferris

et al. 2017

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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“…Importantly, females given their first sexual experiences with different males each time do not show these patterns of behavior, nor do females paired with one particular male but given access to a different male in the open field tests. Treatment with OT during the female's first paced sexual experience with the male potentiates HP selectively, whereas treatment with arginine vasopressin (AVP) potentiates CB selectively (Holley et al, 2015). Preliminary evidence suggests that FMM is potentiated by the dopamine agonist apomorphine.…”

Section: ‘Pre- and Post-orgasmic Learning’ Of Partner Preferencementioning

confidence: 99%

The role of orgasm in the development and shaping of partner preferences

Coria-Ávila

Herrera-Covarrubias

Ismail

et al. 2016

Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology

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BackgroundThe effect of orgasm on the development and shaping of partner preferences may involve a catalysis of the neurochemical mechanisms of bonding. Therefore, understanding such process is relevant for neuroscience and psychology.MethodsA systematic review was carried out using the terms Orgasm, Sexual Reward, Partner Preference, Pair Bonding, Brain, Learning, Sex, Copulation.ResultsIn humans, concentrations of arousing neurotransmitters and potential bonding neurotransmitters increase during orgasm in the cerebrospinal fluid and the bloodstream. Similarly, studies in animals indicate that those neurotransmitters (noradrenaline, oxytocin, prolactin) and others (e.g. dopamine, opioids, serotonin) modulate the appetitive and consummatory phases of sexual behavior and reward. This suggests a link between the experience of orgasm/sexual reward and the neurochemical mechanisms of pair bonding. Orgasm/reward functions as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Some areas in the nervous system function as UCS-detection centers, which become activated during orgasm. Partner-related cues function as conditioned stimuli (CS) and are processed in CS-detector centers.ConclusionsThroughout the article, we discuss how UCS- and CS-detection centers must interact to facilitate memory consolidation and produce recognition and motivation during future social encounters.

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“…Strain cues from pigmented versus non-pigmented partners also induce significant partner preferences in both females (Coria-Avila et al, 2006) and males (Ismail, Jones, Graham, Sylvester, & Pfaus, 2011). Interestingly, a female rat given her first paced copulatory experience with one particular male displays conditioned mate-guarding behavior in the presence of that male and a competitor female (Holley et al, 2015; Holley, Shalev, Bellevue, & Pfaus, 2014), a behavior that she does not display if the male is novel or there is no competition for him. These behaviors do not depend on an olfactory cue per se, instead are associated with more ‘pheromonal’ cues (e.g.…”

Section: Effects Of Repeated Pleasurable Copulatory Stimulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Opioids are known to sensitize dopamine cell activity in the VTA, which results in sensitized release of dopamine in the NAc and elsewhere during reward-seeking behavior (Koob et al, 2014; Kornetsky, 2004; Spanagel, 1995). Opioid actions are also likely responsible for the sensitized activation of oxytocin and vasopressin neurons in the PVN and SON when conditioned rats are in the presence of partner-related cues (Holley et al, 2015). …”

Section: Effects Of Repeated Pleasurable Copulatory Stimulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do rats have orgasms?

Pfaus

Scardochio

Parada

et al. 2016

Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology

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BackgroundAlthough humans experience orgasms with a degree of statistical regularity, they remain among the most enigmatic of sexual responses; difficult to define and even more difficult to study empirically. The question of whether animals experience orgasms is hampered by similar lack of definition and the additional necessity of making inferences from behavioral responses.MethodHere we define three behavioral criteria, based on dimensions of the subjective experience of human orgasms described by Mah and Binik, to infer orgasm-like responses (OLRs) in other species: 1) physiological criteria that include pelvic floor and anal muscle contractions that stimulate seminal emission and/or ejaculation in the male, or that stimulate uterine and cervical contractions in the female; 2) short-term behavioral changes that reflect immediate awareness of a pleasurable hedonic reward state during copulation; and 3) long-term behavioral changes that depend on the reward state induced by the OLR, including sexual satiety, the strengthening of patterns of sexual arousal and desire in subsequent copulations, and the generation of conditioned place and partner preferences for contextual and partner-related cues associated with the reward state. We then examine whether physiological and behavioral data from observations of male and female rats during copulation, and in sexually-conditioned place- and partner-preference paradigms, are consistent with these criteria.ResultsBoth male and female rats display behavioral patterns consistent with OLRs.ConclusionsThe ability to infer OLRs in rats offers new possibilities to study the phenomenon in neurobiological and molecular detail, and to provide both comparative and translational perspectives that would be useful for both basic and clinical research.

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The role of oxytocin and vasopressin in conditioned mate guarding behavior in the female rat

Cited by 24 publications

References 38 publications

Sex differences in neural activation following different routes of oxytocin administration in awake adult rats

Sex differences in neural activation following different routes of oxytocin administration in awake adult rats

The role of orgasm in the development and shaping of partner preferences

Do rats have orgasms?

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