Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Emiliano Lower | Email: emilianolower123@gmail.com
Emiliano Lower1°3°, Valery Grinevich Grinevich2°,Verónica de la Fuente1°3°
1° Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
2° Department of Neuropeptide Research in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
3° Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE-UBA-CONICET), Argentina
Oxytocin (OXT) is a neuropeptide involved in a wide range of social behaviors such as comfort, social reward, parental behaviors, among others. OXT is also relevant for the stabilization of information about conspecifics in the brain. For instance, OXT knockout mice exhibit deficits in social recognition memory (SRM), which can be restored by intracerebroventricular injection of OXT. Similarly, intracerebroventricular administration of an OXT receptor antagonist also impairs SRM. Additionally, these memories can be modulated in a more targeted way: negative modulation of oxytocinergic neurons through chemogenetics impairs SRM formation, while positive modulation promotes its persistence. Furthermore, OXT is involved in discriminating the emotional states of conspecifics and enhances observational freezing. Despite advances in SRM research, the role of OXT in encoding and storing information learned through social interactions remains less understood. Here, we used an observational fear learning paradigm to study whether OXT modulates social learning. In this paradigm, mice can vicariously acquire long-lasting fear memories by observing a demonstrator receiving foot shocks. Our preliminary results show that the specific inhibition of oxytocinergic neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, a key brain region for OXT synthesis in mammals, impairs long-term observational fear memory, without affecting sociability and social novelty.