Albers H Elliott, Dean Albert, Karom Mary C, Smith Debra, Huhman Kim L
Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302-3966, USA.
Brain Res. 2006 Feb 16;1073-1074:425-30. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2005.12.081. Epub 2006 Jan 30.
The present study investigated the hypothesis that social isolation increases aggression by increasing the number of V1a vasopressin receptors in the anterior hypothalamus (AH). Male hamsters were randomly assigned to a group that was allowed to interact with a small nonaggressive hamster three times each week for 3 weeks (socially experienced) or to a group that did not interact socially with other hamsters (social isolates). On the final day of the experiment, hamsters in both groups were placed in a neutral arena with a small, nonaggressive intruder, and agonistic behavior was scored for 10 min. In social isolates, the duration of aggression and the number of attacks were significantly greater than in socially experienced hamsters. There were no significant between-group differences in the latency to the onset of aggression, the number of flank marks or in the duration of defensive/submissive, social or nonsocial behavior. The amount of V1a receptor binding was significantly greater in the AH, the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the lateral hypothalamus in the social isolates than in the socially experienced hamsters. The amount of V1a receptor binding was significantly greater in the central amygdala of socially experienced hamsters than in socially isolated hamsters. Serum concentrations of testosterone were significantly higher in the socially experienced hamsters than in social isolates. These data support the hypothesis that social isolation increases aggression by increasing the number of V1a vasopressin receptors in the AH.
社会隔离通过增加下丘脑前部（AH）中V1a血管加压素受体的数量来增加攻击性。雄性仓鼠被随机分为两组，一组每周与一只小型非攻击性仓鼠互动三次，持续3周（有社交经历组），另一组不与其他仓鼠进行社交互动（社会隔离组）。在实验的最后一天，将两组仓鼠放置在一个中立的场地中，放入一只小型非攻击性入侵者，对其攻击行为进行10分钟的评分。在社会隔离组中，攻击持续时间和攻击次数显著多于有社交经历的仓鼠。在攻击潜伏期、胁腹标记数量或防御/顺从、社交或非社交行为的持续时间方面，两组之间没有显著差异。社会隔离组仓鼠的AH、下丘脑室旁核和下丘脑外侧的V1a受体结合量显著高于有社交经历的仓鼠。有社交经历的仓鼠中央杏仁核中的V1a受体结合量显著高于社会隔离组仓鼠。有社交经历的仓鼠血清睾酮浓度显著高于社会隔离组仓鼠。这些数据支持了以下假设：社会隔离通过增加AH中V1a血管加压素受体的数量来增加攻击性。
