Division of Brain and Neurophysiology, Department of Physiology, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke-shi, Tochigi-ken, 329-0498, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 4;10(1):9135. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66078-7.
Gentle tactile stimuli have been shown to play an important role in the establishment and maintenance of affiliative social interactions. Oxytocin has also been shown to have similar actions. We investigated the effects of gentle stroking on affiliative relationships between humans and rats and the effects of gentle stroking on activation of oxytocin neurons. Male rats received 5-min stroking stimuli from an experimenter every other day for 4 weeks between 3 and 6 weeks of age (S3-6 group), for 4 weeks between 7 and 10 weeks of age (S7-10 group), or for 8 weeks between 3 and 10 weeks of age (S3-10 group). Control rats did not receive stroking stimuli. Rats in the S7-10 and S3-10 groups emitted 50-kHz calls, an index of positive emotion, more frequently during stroking stimuli. Rats in the S3-6, S7-10, and S3-10 groups showed affiliative behaviors toward the experimenter. Oxytocin neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus of rats in the S3-6, S7-10, and S3-10 groups were activated following stroking stimuli. These findings revealed that post-weaning repeated stroking stimuli induce an affiliative relationship between rats and humans and activation of oxytocin neurons.
温和的触觉刺激已被证明在建立和维持亲和性社会互动中起着重要作用。催产素也被证明具有类似的作用。我们研究了温和抚摸对人类和大鼠之间亲和关系的影响，以及温和抚摸对催产素神经元激活的影响。雄性大鼠在 3 至 6 周龄（S3-6 组）、7 至 10 周龄（S7-10 组）或 3 至 10 周龄（S3-10 组）之间，每隔一天接受实验者 5 分钟的抚摸刺激，共 4 周。对照组大鼠未接受抚摸刺激。S7-10 组和 S3-10 组的大鼠在抚摸刺激期间更频繁地发出 50-kHz 叫声，这是一种积极情绪的指标。S3-6 组、S7-10 组和 S3-10 组的大鼠对实验者表现出亲和行为。S3-6 组、S7-10 组和 S3-10 组大鼠下丘脑室旁核中的催产素神经元在抚摸刺激后被激活。这些发现表明，断奶后重复的抚摸刺激诱导大鼠和人类之间的亲和关系以及催产素神经元的激活。
