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

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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.