Regulation of social behaviours by the neuropeptides vasopressin and oxytocin at Juvenile age

复杂的社会互动，包括社会认知、隶属关系和攻击，确保了社会关系的建立和维持。了解这些社会行为的调节是至关重要的，以便深入了解正常的社会功能以及在自闭症谱系障碍等观察到的异常社会功能。这些疾病在早期就被发现，男孩的患病率高于女孩。高度保守的神经肽抗利尿激素和催产素以性别特异性的方式调节成人的社会行为。因此，这些神经肽为理解雄性和雌性社会行为的神经基础提供了重要线索。然而，抗利尿激素和催产素在发育过程中的行为和性别特异性功能的临床前研究是缺乏的。本研究计划的目的是阐明抗利尿激素和催产素的作用，并解决发育过程中社会行为调节的性别差异。我将使用互补的方法，包括最先进的神经解剖学和分子技术，以及神经肽传递的体内操作，来确定加压素和催产素系统在幼年雄性和雌性大鼠大脑中的分布和行为功能。这些结果将对发育过程中抗利尿激素和催产素的大脑性别差异的行为功能产生新的见解。

Complex social interactions, including social cognition, affiliation and aggression, ensure the establishment and maintenance of social relationships. Understanding the regulation of these social behaviours is essential in order to gain insights in normal social functioning as well as in abnormal social functioning as observed in e.g. autism spectrum disorders. These disorders are identified at early age and have a higher prevalence in boys than girls. The highly conserved neuropeptides vasopressin and oxytocin regulate adult social behaviours in a sex-specific way. Thus, these neuropeptides provide important clues in understanding the neural basis of social behaviour in males and females. Yet, preclinical research on the behavioural and sex-specific functions of vasopressin and oxytocin during development is lacking. The goal of this research proposal is to elucidate the role of vasopressin and oxytocin and to address sex differences in the regulation of social behaviours during development. I will use complementary approaches, including state-of-the-art neuroanatomical and molecular techniques and in vivo manipulation of neuropeptide transmission, to determine the distribution and behavioural functions of the vasopressin and oxytocin systems in juvenile male and female rat brains. These results will generate new insights in the behavioural functions of brain sex differences in vasopressin and oxytocin during development.