Song Zhimin, Larkin Tony E, Malley Maureen O', Albers H Elliott
Neuroscience Institute, Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Neuroscience Institute, Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Horm Behav. 2016 May;81:20-7. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.02.004. Epub 2016 Mar 11.
Social recognition is a fundamental requirement for all forms of social relationships. A majority of studies investigating the neural mechanisms underlying social recognition in rodents have investigated relatively neutral social stimuli such as juveniles or ovariectomized females over short time intervals (e.g., 2h). The present study developed a new testing model to study social recognition among adult males using a potent social stimulus. Flank gland odors are used extensively in social communication in Syrian hamsters and convey important information such as dominance status. We found that the recognition of flank gland odors after a 3min exposure lasted for at least 24h, substantially longer than the recognition of other social cues in rats and mice. Intracerebroventricular injections of OT and AVP prolonged the recognition of flank gland odor for up to 48h. Selective OTR but not V1aR agonists, mimicked these enhancing effects of OT and AVP. Similarly, selective OTR but not V1aR antagonists blocked recognition of the odors after 20min. In contrast, the recognition of non-social stimuli was not blocked by either the OTR or the V1aR antagonists. Our findings suggest both OT and AVP enhance social recognition via acting on OTRs and not V1aRs and that the recognition enhancing effects of OT and AVP are limited to social stimuli.
社会认知是所有形式社会关系的基本要求。大多数研究啮齿动物社会认知潜在神经机制的研究，都在较短时间间隔（如2小时）内研究相对中性的社会刺激，如幼崽或去卵巢雌性动物。本研究开发了一种新的测试模型，以使用强效社会刺激来研究成年雄性动物之间的社会认知。侧腹腺气味在叙利亚仓鼠的社会交流中被广泛使用，并传达重要信息，如优势地位。我们发现，暴露3分钟后对侧腹腺气味的识别持续至少24小时，大大长于对大鼠和小鼠其他社会线索的识别。脑室内注射催产素（OT）和血管加压素（AVP）可将侧腹腺气味的识别延长至48小时。选择性催产素受体（OTR）激动剂而非血管加压素1a受体（V1aR）激动剂模拟了OT和AVP的这些增强作用。同样，选择性OTR拮抗剂而非V1aR拮抗剂在20分钟后阻断了对气味的识别。相比之下，OTR或V1aR拮抗剂均未阻断对非社会刺激的识别。我们的研究结果表明，OT和AVP均通过作用于OTR而非V1aR来增强社会认知，且OT和AVP的认知增强作用仅限于社会刺激。
