Distribution of Vasopressin and Oxytocin Neurons in the Basal Forebrain and Midbrain of Spiny Mice (Acomys cahirinus)

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Aubrey Kelly, Emory University; Ashley W Seifert, University of Kentucky
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-06-18
• Publisher: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.05.034
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: NEUROSCIENCE
• Volume: 468
• Start Page: 16
• End Page: 28
• Grant/Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge funding from the Klingenstein-Simons Foundation (Fellowship Award in Neuroscience to AMK), the National Institute of Mental Health (Emory CONTE Center Pilot Project Grant; P50MH100023 to LJ Young), the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01AR070313 to AWS) and the National Science Foundation (IOS-1353713 to AWS).
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; PRECOCIAL MOUSE; Neurosciences; ANTERIOR HYPOTHALAMIC VASOPRESSIN; oxytocin; IMMUNOREACTIVITY; neuropeptide; BEHAVIOR; hypothalamus; STRIA TERMINALIS; ARGININE-VASOPRESSIN; Neurosciences & Neurology; Science & Technology; BED NUCLEUS; vasopressin; BRAIN; social behavior; SEX-DIFFERENCES; AGGRESSION

Abstract

The nonapeptides vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) are present in some form in most vertebrates. VP and OT play critical roles in modulating physiology and are well-studied for their influences on a variety of social behaviors, ranging from affiliation to aggression. Their anatomical distributions have been mapped for numerous species across taxa, demonstrating relatively strong evolutionary conservation in distributions throughout the basal forebrain and midbrain. Here we examined the distribution of VP-immunoreactive (-ir) and OT-ir neurons in a gregarious, cooperatively breeding rodent species, the spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus), for which nonapeptide mapping does not yet exist. Immunohistochemical techniques revealed VP-ir and OT-ir neuronal populations throughout the hypothalamus and amygdala of males and females that are consistent with those of other rodents. However, a novel population of OT-ir neurons was observed in the median preoptic nucleus of both sexes, located dorsally to the anterior commissure. Furthermore, we found widespread sex differences in OT neuronal populations, with males having significantly more OT-ir neurons than females. However, we observed a sex difference in only one VP cell group – that of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), a VP neuronal population that exhibits a phylogenetically widespread sexual dimorphism. These findings provide mapping distributions of VP and OT neurons in Acomys cahirinus. Spiny mice lend themselves to the study of mammalian cooperation and sociality, and the nonapeptide neuronal mapping presented here can serve as a basic foundation for the study of nonapeptide-mediated behavior in a group of highly social rodents.