Brett DiBenedictis

Maternal, sexual, brotherhood vs. fighting, territorial behavior

One brings everyone together, one isolate individuals
Consequence: Depression, social disorder, as consequence\
Social Behavior Neural Network (SBNN)
Very complicated,
1.Regulates social behaviors,
2.Contains nerons that express gonadal steroid receptor
Medial amygdala
Medial olfactory tubercle
lateral septum
keep researching to understand more and learn to manipulate
this system
Medial amzgdala contains: anterior (Mea) and posterior(MeP)
They subserve different sociosexual behavioral functions?
Test #1> odor preference test
Pheromones: attractive social chemical signals
>>>Female mouses attracted to testosterone
Females with MeP lesions lost their hardwired preference for intact
male vs. Castrated male urinarz odors
>>>Decrease interest and sexual motivation when lesions lost
preference
Odor Discrimination Test
Lost of preference is not due to lesion but because of the odor???
Female sexual behavior: the lordosis reflex
MeP-lesioned subject
(no lordosis or have)
have: they intercoursed
no: investigate each other, female want but male donot want
>>>>female mice with lesions of Mea or Mep showed a significant
reduction the displaz of lordosis in response to male mounts
>>>>the medial amy is critical for mate recognition and the
displaz of sexual behaviors in female mice
the medial olfactorz tubercle is a component of the mesolimbic
dopamine system
the medial olfactory tubercle receive synaptic input from the medial
amygdala
the medial olfactory tubercle responds selectivelz to male odors in
female mice

find out which areas of the brain project these:can connect this to
attractive pheromone
when turn off the medial olfactory tubercle, still get the same
response
females with silenced tubercles lost their hardwired preference for
male vs. Female urinarz odors >> CNO no preference, no CO: has
preference
females with silenced mOTs can differnciate odors but prefer food
odors , show no locomotor impairments
another experiment: is dopamine signalling the signal necessary for
the normal display of pheromone-driven approach behaviors in
female mice?
Ventral striatal dopamine-lesioned animals lost prefernce for sexdifferent urinary odors
Still show preference for male
Prefer sucrose and show no locomotor impairments
Summary: mea and mep plaz distinct complementary roles in
mediating approach and sexual aspects of behaviors
Media amygdala send projections to medial olfactory...
Other neuromodulator important to social behavior: oxztocin,
vasopressin, gonadal steroid hormones
Oxytocin:Sexual, pair bondings, other social behaviors
Vasopressin:Water-retention, improtant behaviors
Sex hormones control production of these two hormones
Current work: Dynamic synaptic vasopressin release in the lateral
septum
Short term research goals:
1. vasopressin and oxytocin receptor antagonist microinjections in
the medial olfactorz tubercle
See if there|s any difference between male and female mice>>
expand experiment target
2. role of the medial olfactory tubercle in reinforcement of sexual
interactions
habituation -> conditioning -> preference testing
longterm research goal> measuring dynamic neuromodulator
release and systems level circuit dissection of the SBNN