Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA.
Brain Struct Funct. 2022 Jun;227(5):1907-1919. doi: 10.1007/s00429-021-02369-7. Epub 2021 Sep 5.
Despite our close genetic relationship with chimpanzees, there are notable differences between chimpanzee and human social behavior. Oxytocin and vasopressin are neuropeptides involved in regulating social behavior across vertebrate taxa, including pair bonding, social communication, and aggression, yet little is known about the neuroanatomy of these systems in primates, particularly in great apes. Here, we used receptor autoradiography to localize oxytocin and vasopressin V1a receptors, OXTR and AVPR1a respectively, in seven chimpanzee brains. OXTR binding was detected in the lateral septum, hypothalamus, medial amygdala, and substantia nigra. AVPR1a binding was observed in the cortex, lateral septum, hypothalamus, mammillary body, entire amygdala, hilus of the dentate gyrus, and substantia nigra. Chimpanzee OXTR/AVPR1a receptor distribution is compared to previous studies in several other primate species. One notable difference is the lack of OXTR in reward regions such as the ventral pallidum and nucleus accumbens in chimpanzees, whereas OXTR is found in these regions in humans. Our results suggest that in chimpanzees, like in most other anthropoid primates studied to date, OXTR has a more restricted distribution than AVPR1a, while in humans the reverse pattern has been reported. Altogether, our study provides a neuroanatomical basis for understanding the function of the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in chimpanzees.
尽管我们与黑猩猩在基因上非常接近，但黑猩猩和人类的社会行为存在显著差异。催产素和血管升压素是参与调节脊椎动物分类群社会行为的神经肽，包括配对结合、社会交流和攻击行为，但人们对这些系统在灵长类动物，特别是在大型猿类中的神经解剖结构知之甚少。在这里，我们使用受体放射自显影技术在 7 只黑猩猩的大脑中定位了催产素和血管升压素 V1a 受体，分别为 OXTR 和 AVPR1a。OXTR 结合在侧隔、下丘脑、内侧杏仁核和黑质中被检测到。AVPR1a 结合在皮质、侧隔、下丘脑、乳头体、整个杏仁核、齿状回的门区和黑质中被观察到。将黑猩猩的 OXTR/AVPR1a 受体分布与其他几种灵长类动物的先前研究进行了比较。一个值得注意的区别是，黑猩猩缺乏奖赏区域（如腹侧苍白球和伏隔核）中的 OXTR，而人类则在这些区域中发现了 OXTR。我们的研究结果表明，在黑猩猩中，与迄今为止研究的大多数其他类人猿一样，OXTR 的分布比 AVPR1a 更局限，而在人类中则报道了相反的模式。总的来说，我们的研究为理解催产素和血管升压素系统在黑猩猩中的功能提供了神经解剖学基础。
