Search

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that is important for maternal physiology and childcare, including parturition and milk ejection during nursing1–6. Suckling triggers the release of oxytocin, but other sensory cues—specifically, infant cries—can increase the levels of oxytocin in new human mothers7, which indicates that cries can activate hypothalamic oxytocin neurons. Here we describe a neural circuit that routes auditory information about infant vocalizations to mouse oxytocin neurons. We performed in vivo electrophysiological recordings and photometry from identified oxytocin neurons in awake maternal mice that were presented with pup calls. We found that oxytocin neurons responded to pup vocalizations, but not to pure tones, through input from the posterior intralaminar thalamus, and that repetitive thalamic stimulation induced lasting disinhibition of oxytocin neurons. This circuit gates central oxytocin release and maternal behaviour in response to calls, providing a mechanism for the integration of sensory cues from the offspring in maternal endocrine networks to ensure modulation of brain state for efficient parenting.Experiments in mice identify a neural circuit that relays information about infant cries from the maternal auditory thalamus to hypothalamic oxytocin neurons to induce the release of oxytocin and modulate maternal behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the neurological and behavioral effects of drugs is important in developing pharmacological treatments, as well as understanding the mechanisms associated with neurological disorders. Herein, we present a miniaturized, wireless neural probe system with the capability of delivering drugs for the real-time investigation of the effects of the drugs on both behavioral and neural activities in socially interacting mice. We demonstrate wireless drug delivery and simultaneous monitoring of the resulting neural, behavioral changes, as well as the dose-dependent and repeatable responses to drugs. Furthermore, in pairs of mice, we use a food competition assay in which social interaction was modulated by the delivery of the drug, and the resulting changes in their neural activities are analyzed. During modulated food competition by drug injection, we observe changes in neural activity in mPFC region of a participating mouse over time. Our system may provide new opportunities for the development of studying the effects of drugs on behaviour and neural activity. Technologies for monitoring electrophysiological effects of drugs in behaving animals have limitations. Here the authors report a wireless neural probe system with drug delivery capability for real-time monitoring of drug effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) support a broad range of behaviors and homeostatic functions including sex-specific and context-appropriate social behaviors. Although the alterations of these systems have been linked with social-related disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, their formation and developmental dynamics remain largely unknown. Using novel brain clearing techniques and 3D imaging, we have reconstructed the specification of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic circuits in the developing mouse brain with unprecedented cellular resolution. A systematic quantification indicates that OXT and AVP neurons in the hypothalamus display distinctive developmental dynamics and high cellular plasticity from embryonic to early postnatal stages. Our findings reveal new insights into the specification and consolidation of neuropeptidergic systems in the developing CNS. Madrigal and Jurado use brain clearing techniques and 3D imaging to generate high-resolution reconstructions of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic circuits in the developing mouse brain, which are known to play a crucial role in social behaviours. They provide insight into the specification and consolidation of these circuits from embryonic to early postnatal stages of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]