ArticleeLife2022
Oxytocin neurons mediate the effect of social isolation via the VTA circuits.
Article in eLife, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed.
- Hypothalamic Oxytocin Neuronal Activation Induces Bipolar-Like Mood Changes in Mice in a Sex- and Dosage-Dependent Manner.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Factors Modulating the Effects of Juvenile Social Isolation on Adult Social Behavior in Rodents.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Review
- Impact of early social isolation on social circuits and behavior: relevance to schizophrenia.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Interactive impacts of social deprivation and intranasal oxytocin administration on oxytocin receptor density in prairie vole brains.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- A narrative review on oxytocin at the intersection of sleep, stress, and social behavior.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Circuit logic of oxytocin and vasopressin complementary actions.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Susceptibility of Glucose Regulation to Social Isolation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Hormonal and Behavioral Consequences of Social Isolation and Loneliness: Neuroendocrine Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Tactile stimulation reverses painful stimuli outcomes via PVN-VTA oxytocin circuitry and dopaminergic regulation.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Prefrontal oxytocin receptor positive cells mediate stress-induced anxiety in tuberous sclerosis complex.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Mixed genetic background better recapitulates developmental and psychiatric phenotypes and heterogeneity than inbred C57BL/6J mice.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Reunion with a peer partner reduces PVN oxytocin neuron immunoreactivity in socially selective voles.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Oxytocin signaling regulates maternally directed behavior during early life.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Potentiation of Nigra-Striatal Dopaminergic Projection Underpins Core Autism-Like Behaviors in Valproate-Exposed Mice.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Dopamine dynamics underlying maternal motivation and reward.Neuroscience research · 2025Review
- Excess Neonatal Testosterone Causes Male-Specific Social and Fear Memory Deficits in Wild-Type Mice.eNeuro · 2025Article
- Brain circuits that regulate social behavior.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Complexity of the Hypothalamic Oxytocin System and its Involvement in Brain Functions and Diseases.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Review
- Essential Role of the Anterior Piriform Cortex in Mediating Social Novelty Output via a Top-Down Circuit.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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Abstract
Social interaction during adolescence strongly influences brain function and behavior, and the recent pandemic has emphasized the devastating effect of social distancing on mental health. While accumulating evidence has shown the importance of the reward system in encoding specific aspects of social interaction, the consequences of social isolation on the reward system and the development of social skills later in adulthood are still largely unknown. Here, we found that 1 week of social isolation during adolescence in male mice increased social interaction at the expense of social habituation and social novelty preference. Behavioral changes were accompanied by the acute hyperexcitability of putative dopamine (pDA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area and long-lasting expression of GluA2-lacking AMPARs at excitatory inputs onto pDA neurons that project to the prefrontal cortex. Social isolation-dependent behavioral deficits and changes in neural activity and synaptic plasticity were reversed by chemogenetic inhibition of oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. These results demonstrate that social isolation in male mice has acute and long-lasting effects on social interaction and suggest that homeostatic adaptations mediate these effects within the reward circuit.
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