Back to U19 Main Page

Oxytocin signaling and synaptic plasticity underlying socio-spatial behavior in mice
 

Abstract

We are studying how oxytocin signaling and synaptic plasticity across multiple brain systems enables socio-spatial behavior in mice: how animals recognize and remember each other, with a particular focus on parenting.

We hypothesize that social stimuli are arousing and activate a number of modulatory systems, including oxytocin centers in the hypothalamus. Oxytocin is released in target areas such as lateral septum, hippocampal CA2, and auditory cortex, to affect responses to social stimuli and thus change behavior in C57Bl/6 mice.

Data Collection

Our data collection spans a wide range of techniques, from molecular profiling of oxytocin receptor expression throughout the brain, the biophysical and biochemical signals and effectors directly and indirectly downstream of oxytocin receptor activation (immunocytochemistry, mass spectrometry, western blot), cellular and synaptic responses to socio-spatial stimuli and oxytocin signaling (electrophysiological recordings in vitro and in vivo, including whole-cell recordings and single-unit recordings), population-level responses to the same stimuli (with large-scale array recordings and 2-photon imaging), and behavioral data (documentary film-type footage, 1000s of hours of continuously recorded mouse homecage life and behavioral testing data).

Open Questions

Open questions include: what are the collection of molecular effectors of oxytocin receptor signaling in different brain areas, what are the large-scale multi-areal dynamics when animals interact socially or parentally and how plastic are these responses, what are the multi-modal receptive fields of oxytocin neurons in terms of the high-resolution moment to moment social interactions that occur during complex social encounters or the parental experience?

Back to U19 Main Page