Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Leonzino, Marianna
• Ponzoni, Luisa
• Braida, Daniela
• Gigliucci, Valentina
• Busnelli, Marta
• Ceresini, Ilaria
• Duque-Wilckens, Natalia
• Nishimori, Katsuhiko
• Trainor, Brian C.
• Sala, Mariaelvina
• Chini, Bice

Titel

Impaired approach to novelty and striatal alterations in the oxytocin receptor deficient mouse model of autism

Ist Teil von

• Hormones and behavior, 2019-08, Vol.114, p.104543-104543, Article 104543

Ort / Verlag

United States: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2019

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Long-standing studies established a role for the oxytocin system in social behavior, social reward, pair bonding and affiliation. Oxytocin receptors, implicated in pathological conditions affecting the social sphere such as autism spectrum disorders, can also modulate cognitive processes, an aspect generally overlooked. Here we examined the effect of acute (pharmacological) or genetic (Oxtr−/−) inactivation of oxytocin receptor-mediated signaling, in male mice, in several cognitive tests. In the novel object recognition test, both oxytocin receptor antagonist treated wild type animals and Oxtr−/− mice lacked the typical preference for novelty. Oxtr−/− mice even preferred the familiar object; moreover, their performance in the Morris water maze did not differ from wild types, suggesting that oxytocin receptor inactivation did not disrupt learning. Because the preference for novel objects could be rescued in Oxtr−/− mice with longer habituation periods, we propose that the loss of novelty preferences following Oxtr inactivation is due to altered processing of novel contextual information. Finally, we observed an increased expression of excitatory synaptic markers in the striatum of Oxtr−/− mice and a greater arborization and higher number of spines/neuron in the dorsolateral area of this structure, which drives habit formation. Our data also indicate a specific reshaping of dorsolateral striatal spines in Oxtr−/− mice after exposure to a novel environment, which might subtend their altered approach to novelty, and support previous work pointing at this structure as an important substrate for autistic behaviors. •Inactivation of the oxytocin receptors impairs mice interest for novel objects.•Novelty preference is rescued by habituation to the environment.•Dorsolateral striatum is a key region for oxytocin-regulated approach to novelty.