ArticleGenes, brain, and behavior2015
Raphe serotonin neuron-specific oxytocin receptor knockout reduces aggression without affecting anxiety-like behavior in male mice only.
Article in Genes, brain, and behavior, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oxytocin moderates fMRI connectivity and response to implicit threat processing in cocaine use disorder.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Trial
- Neural cell-types and circuits linking thermoregulation and social behavior.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- Detection, processing and reinforcement of social cues: regulation by the oxytocin system.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2023Review
- Oxytocin excites dorsal raphe serotonin neurons and bidirectionally gates their glutamate synapses.iScience · 2023Article
- Review
- Involvement of oxytocin receptor deficiency in psychiatric disorders and behavioral abnormalities.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2023Review
- Tryptophan Hydroxylase 2 Knockout Male Rats Exhibit a Strengthened Oxytocin System, Are Aggressive, and Are Less Anxious.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2022Article
- Interplay between the oxytocin and opioid systems in regulating social behaviour.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Review
- Oxytocin interactions with central dopamine and serotonin systems regulate different components of motherhood.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Review
- Social isolation and oxytocin antagonism increase emotion-related behaviors and heart rate in female prairie voles.Autonomic neuroscience : basic & clinical · 2022Article
- Fear, love, and the origins of canid domestication: An oxytocin hypothesis.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Review
- Roles of Oxytocin in Stress Responses, Allostasis and Resilience.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Oxytocin receptors in the midbrain dorsal raphe are essential for postpartum maternal social and affective behaviors.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Article
- Dynamic regulation of oxytocin neuronal circuits in the sequential processes of prosocial behavior in rodent models.Current research in neurobiology · 2021Review
- Article
- Article
- Changes of Oxytocin and Serotonin Values in Dialysis Patients after Animal Assisted Activities (AAAs) with a Dog—A Preliminary Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2019Article
- Differences in how macaques monitor others: Does serotonin play a central role?Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science · 2019Review
- Serotonin and motherhood: From molecules to mood.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2019Review
- Role of oxytocin in the control of stress and food intake.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Serotonin and oxytocin influence aggressive and anxiety-like behaviors, though it is unclear how the two may interact. That the oxytocin receptor is expressed in the serotonergic raphe nuclei suggests a mechanism by which the two neurotransmitters may cooperatively influence behavior. We hypothesized that oxytocin acts on raphe neurons to influence serotonergically mediated anxiety-like, aggressive and parental care behaviors. We eliminated expression of the oxytocin receptor in raphe neurons by crossing mice expressing Cre recombinase under control of the serotonin transporter promoter (Slc6a4) with our conditional oxytocin receptor knockout line. The knockout mice generated by this cross are normal across a range of behavioral measures: there are no effects for either sex on locomotion in an open-field, olfactory habituation/dishabituation or, surprisingly, anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated O and plus mazes. There was a profound deficit in male aggression: only one of 11 raphe oxytocin receptor knockouts showed any aggressive behavior, compared to 8 of 11 wildtypes. In contrast, female knockouts displayed no deficits in maternal behavior or aggression. Our results show that oxytocin, via its effects on raphe neurons, is a key regulator of resident-intruder aggression in males but not maternal aggression. Furthermore, this reduction in male aggression is quite different from the effects reported previously after forebrain or total elimination of oxytocin receptors. Finally, we conclude that when constitutively eliminated, oxytocin receptors expressed by serotonin cells do not contribute to baseline anxiety-like behaviors or maternal care.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.