RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Sexually Dimorphic Vasopressin Cells Modulate Social Investigation and Communication in Sex-Specific Ways
JF eneuro
JO eNeuro
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP ENEURO.0415-18.2019
DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0415-18.2019
VO 6
IS 1
A1 Nicole Rigney
A1 Jack Whylings
A1 Michihiro Mieda
A1 Geert J. de Vries
A1 Aras Petrulis
YR 2019
UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/6/1/ENEURO.0415-18.2019.abstract
AB 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.