California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, USA.
Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 14;10(1):17301. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-74243-1.
Social cognition is facilitated by oxytocin receptors (OXTR) in the hippocampus, a brain region that changes dynamically with pregnancy, parturition, and parenting experience. We investigated the impact of parenthood on hippocampal OXTR in male and female titi monkeys, a pair-bonding primate species that exhibits biparental care of offspring. We hypothesized that in postmortem brain tissue, OXTR binding in the hippocampal formation would differ between parents and non-parents, and that OXTR density would correlate with frequencies of observed parenting and affiliative behaviors between partners. Subjects were 10 adult titi monkeys. OXTR binding in the hippocampus (CA1, CA2/3, CA4, dentate gyrus, subiculum) and presubiculum layers (PSB1, PSB3) was determined using receptor autoradiography. The average frequency of partner affiliation (Proximity, Contact, and Tail Twining) and infant carrying were determined from longitudinal observations (5-6 per day). Analyses showed that parents exhibited higher OXTR binding than non-parents in PSB1 (t = - 2.33, p = 0.048), and that OXTR binding in the total presubiculm correlated negatively with Proximity (r = - 0.88) and Contact (r = - 0.91), but not Tail Twining or infant carrying. These results suggest that OXTR binding in the presubiculum supports pair bonding and parenting behavior, potentially by mediating changes in hippocampal plasticity.
社会认知是由海马体中的催产素受体（OXTR）促进的，海马体是一个随怀孕、分娩和育儿经验而动态变化的大脑区域。我们研究了父母身份对雄性和雌性 titi 猴海马体 OXTR 的影响，titi 猴是一种具有双亲照顾后代的配对结合的灵长类动物。我们假设，在死后的脑组织中，父母与非父母之间的海马体结构中的 OXTR 结合会有所不同，并且 OXTR 密度与伴侣之间观察到的育儿和亲昵行为的频率相关。研究对象为 10 只成年 titi 猴。使用受体放射自显影术确定海马体（CA1、CA2/3、CA4、齿状回、下托）和下托前（PSB1、PSB3）层的 OXTR 结合。通过纵向观察（每天 5-6 次）确定伴侣亲近（接近、接触和尾巴缠绕）和携带婴儿的平均频率。分析表明，父母的 PSB1 中的 OXTR 结合高于非父母（t=-2.33，p=0.048），并且总下托前区的 OXTR 结合与接近（r=-0.88）和接触（r=-0.91）呈负相关，但与尾巴缠绕或携带婴儿无关。这些结果表明，下托前区的 OXTR 结合支持配对结合和育儿行为，可能通过调节海马体可塑性的变化来实现。
