Delville Y, De Vries G J, Ferris C F
Program in Neuropsychiatric Sciences, Psychiatry Department, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA, USA.
Brain Behav Evol. 2000 Feb;55(2):53-76. doi: 10.1159/000006642.
In male golden hamsters, offensive aggression is regulated by an interaction between arginine-vasopressin and serotonin at the level of the anterior hypothalamus. The present studies were conducted to study a neural network underlying this interaction. The connections of the anterior hypothalamus were examined by retrograde and anterograde tracing in adult male hamsters. Several limbic areas were found to contain both types of tracing suggesting reciprocal connections with the anterior hypothalamus. Their functional significance relating to the consummation of aggression was tested by comparing neuronal activity (examined through quantification of c-Fos-immunolabeling) in two groups of animals. Experimental animals were sacrificed after attacking an intruder. Control animals were sacrificed after exposure to a woodblock carrying the odor of an intruder that elicited behaviors related to offensive aggression without its consummation. An increased density of Fos-immunoreactivity was found in experimental animals within the medial amygdaloid nucleus, ventrolateral hypothalamus, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and dorsolateral part of the midbrain central gray. These data suggest that these areas are integrated in a neural network centered on the anterior hypothalamus and involved in the consummation of offensive aggression. Finally, c-Fos-immunoreactivity was combined with labeling of serotonin and vasopressin neurons to identify sub-populations particularly associated with offensive aggression. Vasopressin neurons in the nucleus circularis and medial division of the supraoptic nucleus showed increased neuronal activity in the fighters, supporting their role in the control of offensive aggression.
在雄性金黄地鼠中，前下丘脑水平上精氨酸加压素和5-羟色胺之间的相互作用调节着攻击性攻击行为。本研究旨在探究这种相互作用背后的神经网络。通过对成年雄性地鼠进行逆行和顺行追踪，研究了前下丘脑的连接情况。发现几个边缘区域同时含有这两种追踪标记，表明与前下丘脑存在相互连接。通过比较两组动物的神经元活动（通过c-Fos免疫标记定量检测），测试了它们与攻击行为完成的功能相关性。实验动物在攻击入侵者后被处死。对照动物在接触带有入侵者气味的木块后被处死，该木块引发了与攻击性攻击相关但未完成的行为。在内侧杏仁核、下丘脑腹外侧、终纹床核和中脑中央灰质背外侧部分，实验动物中Fos免疫反应性密度增加。这些数据表明，这些区域整合在一个以前下丘脑为中心的神经网络中，并参与攻击性攻击行为的完成。最后，将c-Fos免疫反应性与5-羟色胺和加压素神经元的标记相结合，以识别特别与攻击性攻击相关的亚群。圆形核和视上核内侧部的加压素神经元在战斗动物中显示出神经元活动增加，支持了它们在控制攻击性攻击中的作用。
