Dzik M V, Cavalli C M, Barrera G, Bentosela M
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Grupo de Investigación del Comportamiento en Cánidos (ICOC), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de investigaciones Médicas (IDIM), Grupo de Investigación del Comportamiento en Cánidos (ICOC), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Behav Processes. 2020 Sep;178:104160. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104160. Epub 2020 Jun 3.
Oxytocin is a neurohormone involved in domestic dogs' socio-cognitive abilities which appears to be key in the display of gazing behavior as a communicative signal. However, differential effects of oxytocin have been reported in various tasks according to the dogs' breed. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of the intranasal administration of oxytocin on gazing towards the human face in Golden and Labrador Retrievers. This was assessed during a learning task in which dogs had to gaze at the human face in order to receive food that was visible but inaccessible. Results indicate that only intact dogs who received oxytocin exhibited an increase in gazing behavior, while no differences were observed for neutered dogs. This effect could be related to an interaction between oxytocin and steroid hormones in intact dogs. These findings highlight the importance of including modulating factors, such as breed and neutered status, when studying the mechanisms of oxytocin.
催产素是一种与家犬社会认知能力有关的神经激素，它似乎是作为一种交流信号的注视行为表现的关键。然而，根据犬种的不同，催产素在各种任务中已被报道有不同的作用。在本研究中，我们评估了鼻内注射催产素对金毛寻回犬和拉布拉多猎犬注视人脸的影响。这是在一项学习任务中进行评估的，在该任务中，狗必须注视人脸才能获得可见但无法触及的食物。结果表明，只有接受催产素的未绝育犬的注视行为有所增加，而绝育犬则未观察到差异。这种效应可能与未绝育犬体内催产素和类固醇激素之间的相互作用有关。这些发现凸显了在研究催产素机制时纳入调节因素（如犬种和绝育状态）的重要性。
