Zhang Feng-Rui, Liu Juan, Wen Jieqi, Zhang Zi-Yan, Li Yijia, Song Eric, Hu Li, Chen Zhou-Feng
Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders, Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110.
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Apr 29;122(17):e2423374122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2423374122. Epub 2025 Apr 23.
Spontaneous rescue behavior enhances the well-being and survival of social animals, yet the neural mechanisms underlying the recognition and response to conspecifics in need remain unclear. Here, we report that observer mice experience distress when encountering anesthetized conspecifics, prompting spontaneous rescue-like behavior toward the unconscious mice. This behavior facilitates the earlier awakening of anesthetized mice while simultaneously alleviating stress in the helper mice. Our findings reveal that endogenous oxytocin (OXT) release from the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) to the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) regulates the emotional component of rescue-like behavior. In contrast, OXT release from the PVN to OXTR in the dorsal bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (dBNST) mediates the motor component of the behavior. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these two pathways exhibited distinct temporal dynamics and functional roles. The OXT-OXTR pathway is activated in a transient and intense manner, acting as a trigger for rescue-like behavior, whereas the OXT-OXTR pathway responds in a sustained manner, ensuring the continuation of the behavior. These findings highlight the remarkable ability of rodents to engage in targeted helping behavior and suggest that distinct subcortical oxytocinergic pathways selectively and synergistically regulate the motor and emotional aspects of rescue-like behavior.
自发救援行为可提高群居动物的幸福感和存活率，但对处于困境的同种动物进行识别和做出反应背后的神经机制仍不清楚。在此，我们报告称，观察小鼠在遇到麻醉的同种动物时会感到痛苦，从而促使其对昏迷小鼠表现出自发的类似救援行为。这种行为有助于麻醉小鼠更早苏醒，同时减轻救援小鼠的压力。我们的研究结果表明，下丘脑室旁核（PVN）释放的内源性催产素（OXT）作用于杏仁核中央核（CeA）中的催产素受体（OXTR），调节类似救援行为的情感成分。相比之下，PVN释放的OXT作用于终纹床核背侧（dBNST）中的OXTR，介导该行为的运动成分。此外，我们证明这两条通路表现出不同的时间动态和功能作用。OXT - OXTR通路以短暂而强烈的方式被激活，作为类似救援行为的触发因素，而OXT - OXTR通路以持续的方式做出反应，确保行为的持续进行。这些发现突出了啮齿动物进行有针对性的帮助行为的显著能力，并表明不同的皮质下催产素能通路选择性地协同调节类似救援行为的运动和情感方面。
