Social motivation is reduced in vasopressin 1b receptor null mice despite normal performance in an olfactory discrimination task

Wersinger, Scott R.; Kelliher, Kevin R.; Zufall, Frank; Lolait, Stephen J.; O’Carroll, Anne-Marie; Young, W. Scott

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.07.004

Cited by 126 publications

(113 citation statements)

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“…Vasopressin systems have been implicated in aspects of rodent social interaction, including aggression, social recognition, and interest in social olfactory cues [5,6,13,14,16,18,48,[51][52][53]. The present experiments addressed the question of whether vocalizations emitted within social contexts in adult and infant mice require the vasopressin 1b receptor subtype.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The present experiments addressed the question of whether vocalizations emitted within social contexts in adult and infant mice require the vasopressin 1b receptor subtype. Null mutation of the Avpr1b gene was previously reported to reduce aggression in male mice in the resident-intruder task [51][52][53]. In contrast to male residents, female resident mice usually display more social investigation and less attack behavior toward a female intruder mouse [11,32].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reduced ultrasonic vocalizations in vasopressin 1b knockout mice

Scattoni¹,

McFarlane²,

Zhodzishsky³

et al. 2008

Behavioural Brain Research

130

114

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The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin have been implicated in rodent social and affiliative behaviors, including social bonding, parental care, social recognition, social memory, vocalizations, territoriality, and aggression, as well as components of human social behaviors and the etiology of autism. Previous investigations of mice with various manipulations of the oxytocin and vasopressin systems reported unusual levels of ultrasonic vocalizations in social settings. We employed a vasopressin 1b receptor (Avpr1b) knockout mouse to evaluate the role of the vasopressin 1b receptor subtype in the emission of ultrasonic vocalizations in adult and infant mice. Avpr1b null mutant female mice emitted fewer ultrasonic vocalizations, and their vocalizations were generally at lower frequencies, during a resident-intruder test. Avpr1b null mutant pups emitted ultrasonic vocalizations similar to heterozygote and wildtype littermates when separated from the nest on postnatal days 3, 6, 9, and 12. However, maternal potentiation of ultrasonic vocalizations in Avpr1b null and heterozygote mutants was absent, when tested at postnatal day 9. These results indicate that Avpr1b null mutant mice are impaired in the modulation of ultrasonic vocalizations within different social contexts at infant and adult ages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced ultrasonic vocalizations in vasopressin 1b knockout mice

Scattoni¹,

McFarlane²,

Zhodzishsky³

et al. 2008

Behavioural Brain Research

130

114

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“…NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript knockout mice retained the ability to detect both male and female urine (Wersinger et al, 2004). Reduced olfactory investigation and aggression is also observed after treatment with an AVPr1b antagonist (Blanchard et al, 2005).…”

Section: Nih-pa Author Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impaired nitric oxide synthase signaling dissociates social investigation and aggression.

Trainor¹,

Workman²,

Jessen³

et al. 2007

Behavioral Neuroscience

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A combination of social withdrawal and increased aggression is characteristic of several mental disorders. Most previous studies have investigated the neurochemical bases of social behavior and aggression independently, as opposed to how these behaviors are regulated in concert. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) produces gaseous nitric oxide, which functions as a neurotransmitter and is known to affect several types of behavior including mating and aggression. Compared with wild-type mice, we observed that nNOS knockout mice showed reduced behavioral responses to an intruder behind a wire barrier. Similar results were observed in mice treated with the selective nNOS inhibitor 3-bromo-7-nitroindazole (3BrN). In habituation-dishabituation tests, treatment with 3BrN did not block recognition of male urine but did attenuate investigation time compared with oil-treated animals. Finally, nNOS knockout mice and 3BrN treated mice were significantly more aggressive than wild-type and oil-treated males, respectively. In general, these behavioral effects are less pronounced in pair-housed males compared with singly-housed males. Thus, nNOS inhibition results in a phenotype that displays reduced social investigation and increased aggression. These data suggest that further study of nNOS signaling is warranted in mental disorders characterized by social withdrawal and increased aggression. Keywordsaggression; autism; nitric oxide synthase; serotonin; social investigationThe neurobiological substrates underlying social behavior have received renewed attention in efforts to gain insights into the underpinnings of mental disorders that involve deficits in social behavior (Choleris et al., 2003;DiCicco-Bloom et al., 2006;Insel & Fernald, 2004). In some cases, deficits in social interactions are associated with increased aggression (Anckarsater, 2006;Soderstrom, Sjodin, Carlstedt, & Forsman, 2004). The relationships between mechanisms of social investigation and aggression are poorly understood. The most common test used to study the neurobiological bases of aggression is the rodent resident-intruder test, in which an unfamiliar intruder is introduced into a resident's' home cage. Used successfully to identify neural circuits (Newman, 1999) and chemical systems ) that mediate aggression, the resident-intruder test eliminates the period of social assessment that precedes aggression in naturalistic contexts (Anderson & Hill, 1965).Mechanisms of social investigation generally have been examined outside of the context of aggressive behavior. A notable exception is a study of the vasopressin receptor 1b (AVPr1b), as selective deletion of AVPr1b results in decreased aggression and decreased investigation of social stimuli (Wersinger, Ginns, O'Carroll, Lolait, & Young, 2002 NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript knockout mice retained the ability to detect both male and female urine (Wersinger et al., 2004). Reduced olfactory investigation and aggression is also observed after treatment wi...

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“…OXTR and V1aR are abundant in the developing and adult brain and are typically assumed to be the main brain receptors in the adult, with V1bR expression limited to the pituitary and V2R receptor in the kidney. The presence of V1bR (Hernando et al, 2001) and V2R (Kato et al, 1995;Vargas et al, 2009) in the brain during development has not been ruled out, and this could be an important research avenue for V1bR in particular (Wersinger et al, 2002(Wersinger et al, , 2004Caldwell et al, 2008;Stevenson and Caldwell, 2012;Zai et al, 2012). OXTR and V1aR mRNA and ligand-binding capacity have both been detected prenatally in rats, but their interesting transient developmental patterns appear postnatally, with an adult-like pattern around the time of typical weaning, and further maturing in quantity into adulthood (Lukas et al, 2010) Some, but not all adult sex differences in OXTR expression are influenced by developmental exposure to testosterone (Tribollet et al, 1990;Uhl-Bronner et al, 2005;Dumais et al, 2013) and are actively regulated in adulthood (Bale and Dorsa, 1995a, b;Bale et al, 1995a, b).…”

Section: Dynamic Developmental Profiles: When and Where Are The Factomentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental Perspectives on Oxytocin and Vasopressin

Hammock

2014

Neuropsychopharmacol

167

146

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The related neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin are involved in species-typical behavior, including social recognition behavior, maternal behavior, social bonding, communication, and aggression. A wealth of evidence from animal models demonstrates significant modulation of adult social behavior by both of these neuropeptides and their receptors. Over the last decade, there has been a flood of studies in humans also implicating a role for these neuropeptides in human social behavior. Despite popular assumptions that oxytocin is a molecule of social bonding in the infant brain, less mechanistic research emphasis has been placed on the potential role of these neuropeptides in the developmental emergence of the neural substrates of behavior. This review summarizes what is known and assumed about the developmental influence of these neuropeptides and outlines the important unanswered questions and testable hypotheses. There is tremendous translational need to understand the functions of these neuropeptides in mammalian experience-dependent development of the social brain. The activity of oxytocin and vasopressin during development should inform our understanding of individual, sex, and species differences in social behavior later in life.

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Social motivation is reduced in vasopressin 1b receptor null mice despite normal performance in an olfactory discrimination task

Cited by 126 publications

References 46 publications

Reduced ultrasonic vocalizations in vasopressin 1b knockout mice

Reduced ultrasonic vocalizations in vasopressin 1b knockout mice

Impaired nitric oxide synthase signaling dissociates social investigation and aggression.

Developmental Perspectives on Oxytocin and Vasopressin

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