ArticleCurrent biology : CB2022
Social experience alters oxytocinergic modulation in the nucleus accumbens of female prairie voles.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- The oxytocin system mediates behavioral and neurobiological alterations associated with early adversity.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Accumbal calcium-permeable AMPA receptors orchestrate neuronal ensembles underlying social attachment.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Circuit logic of oxytocin and vasopressin complementary actions.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Natural variation in the oxytocin receptor gene predicts social observation in female prairie voles.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- PVN-NAc Shell-VP Circuit OT and OTR Neurons Regulate Pair Bonding via D2R and D1R.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Social Exclusion Amplifies Behavioral Responses to Physical Pain via Insular Neuromodulation.Research square · 2025Article
- Social Exclusion Amplifies Behavioral Responses to Physical Pain via Insular Neuromodulation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Neural connectivity of oxytocin receptor-expressing neurons in the nucleus accumbens and their role in social attachment.Hormones and behavior · 2025Article
- A review of the effects of different types of social behaviors on the recruitment of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters in the nucleus accumbens.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2025Review
- Vocal recognition of partners by female prairie voles.iScience · 2025Article
- Reviving-like prosocial behavior in response to unconscious or dead conspecifics in rodents.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Acute, chronic and conditioned effects of intranasal oxytocin in the mu-opioid receptor knockout mouse model of autism: Social context matters.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- The effects of different types of social interactions on the electrophysiology of neurons in the nucleus accumbens in rodents.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- Vocal recognition of partners by female prairie voles.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Effects of oxytocin receptor agonism on acquisition and expression of pair bonding in male prairie voles.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Re-wiring of the bonded brain: Gene expression among pair bonded female prairie voles changes as they transition to motherhood.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2024Article
- Effects of Oxytocin Receptor Agonism on Acquisition and Expression of Pair Bonding in Male Prairie Voles.Research square · 2024Article
- Prairie voles as a model for adaptive reward remodeling following loss of a bonded partner.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2024Review
- Melanocortin agonism in a social context selectively activates nucleus accumbens in an oxytocin-dependent manner.Neuropharmacology · 2024Article
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9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Social relationships are dynamic and evolve with shared and personal experiences. Whether the functional role of social neuromodulators also evolves with experience to shape the trajectory of relationships is unknown. We utilized pair bonding in the socially monogamous prairie vole as an example of socio-sexual experience that dramatically alters behaviors displayed toward other individuals. We investigated oxytocin-dependent modulation of excitatory synaptic transmission in the nucleus accumbens as a function of pair-bonding status. We found that an oxytocin receptor agonist decreases the amplitude of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) in sexually naive virgin, but not pair-bonded, female voles, while it increases the amplitude of electrically evoked EPSCs in paired voles, but not in virgins. This oxytocin-induced potentiation of synaptic transmission relies on the de novo coupling between oxytocin receptor signaling and endocannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) receptor signaling in pair-bonded voles. Blocking CB1 receptors after pair-bond formation increases the occurrence of a specific form of social rejection-defensive upright response-that is displayed toward the partner, but not toward a novel individual. Altogether, our results demonstrate that oxytocin's action in the nucleus accumbens is changed through social experience in a way that regulates the trajectory of social interactions as the relationship with the partner unfolds, potentially promoting the maintenance of a pair bond by inhibiting aggressive responses. These results provide a mechanism by which social experience and context shift oxytocinergic signaling to impact neural and behavioral responses to social cues.
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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.