ArticleNeuron2023
Molecular and cellular mechanisms of the first social relationship: A conserved role of 5-HT from mice to monkeys, upstream of oxytocin.
Article in Neuron, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Serotonin deficiency caused by inactivation of Tph2 in mice leads to widespread sex-dependent changes in cerebral oxidative metabolic activity.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Article
- The Neural Distribution of Vasotocin, Oxytocin, Dopamine, and Serotonin in Two Australian Skinks With Contrasting Social Lives.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2026Article
- The gut microbiome shapes social behaviour across animal species.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- The entactogen MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, "Ecstasy") disrupts helping behaviour while reinforcing electrophysiological indicators of potentially associated synaptic plasticity in male Sprague-Dawley rats.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Integrated single-cell atlases unveil the operation principles of whole-brain 5-HT neuronal subsystems.Science advances · 2025Article
- Age-specific regulation of sociability by hypothalamic Agrp neurons.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Oxytocin signaling regulates maternally directed behavior during early life.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Paternity testing for crab-eating macaques and rhesus macaques using microsatellite markers.Animal models and experimental medicine · 2025Article
- Concerted actions of distinct serotonin neurons orchestrate female pup care behavior.Research square · 2025Article
- Concerted actions of distinct serotonin neurons orchestrate female pup care behavior.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Complexity of the Hypothalamic Oxytocin System and its Involvement in Brain Functions and Diseases.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Review
- Oxytocinergic input from the paraventricular nucleus to the nucleus accumbens core modulates methamphetamine-conditioned place preference.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Gut-X axis.iMeta · 2025Review
- The Hypothalamic Medial Preoptic Area-Paraventricular Nucleus Circuit Modulates Depressive-Like Behaviors in a Mouse Model of Postpartum Depression.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Article
- GPCRs in hypothalamic neurons and their roles in controlling food intake and metabolism.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2025Review
- Socio-affective communication in Tph2-deficient rat pups: communal nesting aggravates growth retardation despite ameliorating maternal affiliation deficits.Molecular autism · 2024Article
- Taprenepag restores maternal-fetal interface homeostasis for the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2024Article
- Neurons for infant social behaviors in the mouse zona incerta.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- From Parental Behavior to Sexual Function: Recent Advances in Oxytocin Research.Current sexual health reports · 2024Review
- Serotonin: A Bridge for Infant-mother Bonding.Neuroscience bulletin · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Maternal affiliation by infants is the first social behavior of mammalian animals. We report here that elimination of the Tph2 gene essential for serotonin synthesis in the brain reduced affiliation in mice, rats, and monkeys. Calcium imaging and c-fos immunostaining showed maternal odors activation of serotonergic neurons in the raphe nuclei (RNs) and oxytocinergic neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Genetic elimination of oxytocin (OXT) or its receptor reduced maternal preference. OXT rescued maternal preference in mouse and monkey infants lacking serotonin. Tph2 elimination from RN serotonergic neurons innervating PVN reduced maternal preference. Reduced maternal preference after inhibiting serotonergic neurons was rescued by oxytocinergic neuronal activation. Our genetic studies reveal a role for serotonin in affiliation conserved from mice and rats to monkeys, while electrophysiological, pharmacological, chemogenetic, and optogenetic studies uncover OXT downstream of serotonin. We suggest serotonin as the master regulator upstream of neuropeptides in mammalian social behaviors.
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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.