以色列魏茨曼科学研究所Tali Kimchi和 Silvia Gabriela Chuartzman团队发现，性二型的催产素回路驱动野生家鼠群体内的社会冲突和攻击行为。该项研究成果发表在2024年7月5日出版的《自然—神经科学》上。

通过对野生小鼠的回路操控，该研究团队揭示了下丘脑室旁核(PVN)中表达催产素(OT⁺)的神经元，作为一个神经中枢控制着群体内部社交冲突中的行为，影响行为性二型性的程度。研究人员证明了OT+ PVN神经元在促进攻击和统治等级中是必要的和充分的，主要是在雌性中。此外，这些神经元的药物遗传学激活，会以性别依赖的方式诱导组内小鼠的“个性”特征发生变化。

最后，该课题组确定了从这些OT神经元到腹侧被盖区的神经支配，以性别特异性的方式驱动二元攻击。他们的数据表明，在自然环境下，竞争性攻击是由一个与奖赏相关回路相连的性二型催产素网络介导的。

据介绍，在自然界中，男性和女性都参与竞争性的攻击行为中来解决社会冲突，然而指导这种互动的行为原则及其潜在的神经机制仍然知之甚少。

附：英文原文

Title: Sexually dimorphic oxytocin circuits drive intragroup social conflict and aggression in wild house mice

Author: Sofer, Yizhak, Zilkha, Noga, Gimpel, Elena, Wagner, Shlomo, Chuartzman, Silvia Gabriela, Kimchi, Tali

Issue&Volume: 2024-07-05

Abstract: In nature, both males and females engage in competitive aggressive interactions to resolve social conflicts, yet the behavioral principles guiding such interactions and their underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. Through circuit manipulations in wild mice, we unveil oxytocin-expressing (OT+) neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) as a neural hub governing behavior in dyadic and intragroup social conflicts, influencing the degree of behavioral sexual dimorphism. We demonstrate that OT+ PVN neurons are essential and sufficient in promoting aggression and dominance hierarchies, predominantly in females. Furthermore, pharmacogenetic activation of these neurons induces a change in the ‘personality’ traits of the mice within groups, in a sex-dependent manner. Finally, we identify an innervation from these OT neurons to the ventral tegmental area that drives dyadic aggression, in a sex-specific manner. Our data suggest that competitive aggression in naturalistic settings is mediated by a sexually dimorphic OT network connected with reward-related circuitry.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01685-5

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01685-5