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Oxytocin facilitates the induction of long-term potentiation in the accessory olfactory bulb
- Source :
- Neuroscience letters. 438(2):133-137
- Publication Year :
- 2008
- Publisher :
- Elsevier, 2008.
-
Abstract
- When female mice are mated, they form a memory to the pheromonal signal of their male partner. Several lines of evidence indicate that the neural changes underlying this memory occur in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) at the first stage of the vomeronasal system. The formation of this memory depends on the mating-induced release of noradrenaline in the AOB. In addition to noradrenaline, the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is also released within the central nervous system during mating. Because OT has been implicated in social memory and its receptors are expressed in the AOB, we hypothesized that OT might promote the strength of synaptic transmission from mitral to granule cells in the AOB. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the lateral olfactory tract-evoked field potential that represents the granule cell response to mitral cell activation and its plasticity in parasagittal slices of the AOB. Of the 10-, 20-, 50-, and 100-Hz stimulations tested, the 100-Hz stimulation was optimal for inducing long-term potentiation (LTP). OT paired with 100-Hz stimulation that only produced short-term potentiation enhanced LTP induction in a dose-dependent manner. OT-paired LTP was blocked by both the selective OT antagonist desGly-NH 2 ,d(CH 2 ) 5 [Tyr(Me) 2 ,Thr 4 ]-ornithine vasotocin and the N -methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist dl -2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid. These results indicate that OT can function as a gate to modulate the establishment of NMDA receptor-dependent LTP at the mitral-to-granule cell synapse in the AOB.
- Subjects :
- Male
Olfactory system
Biology
Oxytocin
Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
Synaptic Transmission
Mice
Sexual Behavior, Animal
Organ Culture Techniques
Vasotocin
Memory
Pheromonal memory
medicine
LTP induction
Animals
Sex Attractants
Neurons
Mice, Inbred BALB C
General Neuroscience
Long-term potentiation
Olfactory Pathways
Granule cell
Olfactory Bulb
Electric Stimulation
Olfactory bulb
medicine.anatomical_structure
Synapses
Synaptic plasticity
NMDA receptor
Female
Vomeronasal Organ
Accessory olfactory bulb
Cell activation
Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
Neuroscience
Field potential
Signal Transduction
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 03043940
- Volume :
- 438
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Neuroscience letters
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a8206aa5fc9663be6c1898d17a401854