Increased anxiety and decreased sociability induced by patern

ChR2-mCherry was used for optogenetic activation of oxytocinergic fibers, eNpHR3.0-mCherry was used for optogenetic inhibition of the PVN (OTergic)-PrL pathway. (All viruses were packaged by BrainVTA)

The viruses used in this article from BrainVTA are in the table below

Optogenetic	PT-0002 AAV-Ef1a-DIO-ChR2-mCherry PT-0007 AAV-Ef1a-DIO-eNpHR3.0-mCherry
Control	PT-0013 AAV-Ef1a-DIO-mCherry
CRE Recombinase	PT-0263 AAV-Oxytocin-Cre

Zhixiong He, Larry Young, Xin-Ming Ma, Qianqian Guo, Limin Wang, Yang Yang, Luo Luo, Wei Yuan, Laifu Li, Jing Zhang, Wenjuan Hou, Hui Qiao, Rui Jia, Fadao Tai
Pub Date: 2019-05-14, DOI: 10.7554/eLife.44026， Email: [email protected]
Early adverse experiences often have devastating consequences. However, whether preweaning paternal deprivation (PD) affects emotional and social behaviors and their underlying neural mechanisms remain unexplored. Using monogamous mandarin voles, we found that PD increased anxiety-like behavior and attenuated social preference in adulthood. PD also decreased the number of oxytocin (OT)-positive neurons projecting from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and reduced the levels of the medial prefrontal cortex OT receptor protein in females and of the OT receptor and V1a receptor proteins in males. Intra-prelimbic cortical OT injections reversed the PD induced changes in anxiety-like behavior and social preferences. Optogenetic activation of the prelimbic cortex OT terminals from PVN OT neurons reversed the PD-induced changes in emotion and social preference behaviors, whereas optogenetic inhibition was anxiogenic and impaired social preference in naive voles. These ﬁndings demonstrate that PD increases anxiety-like behavior and attenuates social preferences through the involvement of PVN OT neuron projections to the prelimbic cortex.

Figure 1. Optogenetic stimulation of OT terminals rescued changes in emotion and social preference behavior that were induced by paternal deprivation.

Using socially monogamous mandarin voles, the authors investigated the effects of PD from PND 14–21 on emotion and social preference and the levels of OT and OTR in specific brain regions. They then tested whether a microinjection of OT into the PrL and optogenetic activation of PVN (OTergic)-mPFC projections can recover the effects of preweaning PD. The present study found that preweaning PD in mandarin vole pups increased the levels of anxiety-like behavior and attenuated social preference in male and female adults, possibly via disruption of emotional attachment.

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