Harmon A C, Huhman K L, Moore T O, Albers H E
Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Departments of Biology and Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302-4010, USA.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2002 Dec;14(12):963-9. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2826.2002.00863.x.
Dominant subordinate relationships are formed as the result of social conflict and are maintained at least in part by communication. At this time, little is known about the neural mechanisms that are responsible for coordinating the social behaviours (e.g. aggression) that occur in association with the formation and maintenance of these relationships. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of oxytocin (OXT) within the medial preoptic anterior hypothalamic continuum (MPOA-AH) in the control of aggression in female hamsters. OXT injected into the MPOA-AH immediately before testing significantly reduced the duration of aggression in a dose-dependent manner. Injection of an OXT antagonist 30 min before testing significantly increased the duration of aggression. In contrast, the duration of aggression was not altered when hamsters were tested either 30 min after injection of OXT or immediately following injection of an OXT-antagonist. These data support the hypothesis that OXT release within the MPOA-AH regulates social behaviours important in the formation and maintenance of dominant subordinate relationships in female hamsters.
支配-从属关系是社会冲突的结果，并至少部分通过交流得以维持。目前，对于负责协调与这些关系的形成和维持相关的社会行为（如攻击行为）的神经机制知之甚少。本研究的目的是调查催产素（OXT）在内侧视前区-下丘脑前部连续体（MPOA-AH）中对雌性仓鼠攻击行为控制中的作用。在测试前立即向MPOA-AH注射OXT以剂量依赖的方式显著缩短了攻击行为的持续时间。在测试前30分钟注射OXT拮抗剂显著增加了攻击行为的持续时间。相比之下，在注射OXT后30分钟或注射OXT拮抗剂后立即对仓鼠进行测试时，攻击行为的持续时间没有改变。这些数据支持了这样的假设，即MPOA-AH内的OXT释放调节了对雌性仓鼠支配-从属关系的形成和维持至关重要的社会行为。
