TY - JOUR T1 - Sexually Dimorphic Vasopressin Cells Modulate Social Investigation and Communication in Sex-Specific Ways JF - eneuro JO - eNeuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0415-18.2019 VL - 6 IS - 1 SP - ENEURO.0415-18.2019 AU - Nicole Rigney AU - Jack Whylings AU - Michihiro Mieda AU - Geert J. de Vries AU - Aras Petrulis Y1 - 2019/01/01 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/6/1/ENEURO.0415-18.2019.abstract N2 - The neuropeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP) has long been implicated in the regulation of social behavior and communication, but precisely which AVP cell groups are involved is largely unknown. To address whether the sexually dimorphic AVP cell group in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is important for social communication, we deleted BNST AVP cells by viral delivery of a Cre-dependent caspase-3 cell-death construct in AVP-iCre-positive mice using AVP-iCre negative littermate as controls, and assessed social, sexual, aggressive and anxiety-related behaviors. In males, lesioning BNST AVP cells reduced social investigation of other males and increased urine marking (UM) in the presence of a live female, without altering ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), resident-intruder aggression, copulatory behavior, anxiety, or investigation of females or their odor cues. In females, which have significantly fewer AVP cells in the BNST, these injections influenced copulatory behavior but otherwise had minimal effects on social behavior and communication, indicating that these cells contribute to sex differences in social behavioral function. ER -