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Population Ca2+ activity across limibic system during social behaviors

Abstract

Oxytocin is an important neuropeptide for promoting the formation of social bond in animals of various species, including humans. Interestingly, oxytocin has also been implicated in promoting aggressive behaviors. A key site through which oxytocin can act to increase aggression is the VMHvl. VMHvl is an essential locus for male and female aggression and is enriched for oxytocin receptors. Furthermore, a cluster of oxytocin neurons are found right next to the VMHvl and may provide a specialized “local” source of oxytocin to the VMHvl. Thus, the overall goal of the project is to understand the oxytocin signaling in the VMHvl during aggressive encounters and its potential role in the aggression modulation. To achieve this goal, we have performed a series of in vivo optical recordings from the oxytocin receptor expressing neurons in the VMHvl and the oxytocin neurons neighboring the VMHvl during social behaviors. Additionally, we have recorded cell activity from multiple regions that are connected to the VMHvl during social behaviors using multi-channel fiber photometry systems. Thus, the main forms of our data are (1) behavioral data of mice during freely moving social interaction; (2) bulk Ca2+ activity from multiple limbic regions during social interaction. The behavioral data are both annotated manually and tracked with Deeplabcut while the recording data is processed and analyzed mainly using custom scripts written in Matlab. We are interested in understanding the relationship of activity in different brain regions and how they collective determine the timing of social behaviors. A second question we would be interested in exploring is how network activity in the limbic system varies with behavioral state (e.g. aggressive vs. non-aggressive state) and how oxytocin may contribute to the change in functional connectivity of the network.
 

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