Center for Translational Social Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2022 Aug 29;377(1858):20210057. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0057. Epub 2022 Jul 11.
Oxytocin modulates social behaviour across diverse vertebrate taxa, but the precise nature of its effects varies across species, individuals and lifetimes. Contributing to this variation is the fact that oxytocin's physiological effects are mediated through interaction with diverse neuromodulatory systems and can depend on the specifics of the local circuits it acts on. Furthermore, those effects can be influenced by both genetics and experience. Here we discuss this complexity through the lens of a specific neuromodulatory system, endocannabinoids, interacting with oxytocin in the nucleus accumbens to modulate prosocial behaviours in prairie voles. We provide a survey of current knowledge of oxytocin-endocannabinoid interactions in relation to social behaviour. We review in detail recent research in monogamous female prairie voles demonstrating that social experience, such as mating and pair bonding, can change how oxytocin modulates nucleus accumbens glutamatergic signalling through the recruitment of endocannabinoids to modulate prosocial behaviour toward the partner. We then discuss potential sex differences in experience-dependent modulation of the nucleus accumbens by oxytocin in voles based on new data in males. Finally, we propose that future oxytocin-based precision medicine therapies should consider how prior social experience interacts with sex and genetics to influence oxytocin actions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Interplays between oxytocin and other neuromodulators in shaping complex social behaviours'.
催产素调节着不同脊椎动物类群的社会行为，但它的作用在物种、个体和生命历程中存在差异。造成这种差异的原因是，催产素的生理作用是通过与不同的神经调质系统相互作用来介导的，并且可能取决于它作用的局部回路的具体情况。此外，这些影响还会受到遗传和经验的影响。在这里，我们通过内源性大麻素这一特定的神经调质系统与伏隔核中的催产素相互作用来调节草原田鼠的亲社会行为，从这一角度来讨论这种复杂性。我们提供了与社会行为有关的催产素-内源性大麻素相互作用的当前知识综述。我们详细回顾了最近关于一夫一妻制的雌性草原田鼠的研究，表明社会经验，如交配和配对，会改变催产素如何通过招募内源性大麻素来调节对伴侣的亲社会行为，从而调节伏隔核中的谷氨酸能信号。然后，我们根据雄性的新数据，讨论了基于伏隔核的催产素在雄鼠中经验依赖性调节的潜在性别差异。最后，我们提出，未来基于催产素的精准医疗疗法应该考虑先前的社会经验如何与性别和遗传相互作用，从而影响催产素的作用。本文是主题为“催产素与其他神经调质在塑造复杂社会行为中的相互作用”的特刊的一部分。
