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、归属和攻击，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必不可少的，以便了解正常的社会功能以及在自闭症谱系障碍等中观察到的异常社会功能。这些疾病在很小的时候就被发现，男孩的患病率高于女孩。高度保守的神经肽血管加压素和催产素以性别特异性的方式调节成年人的社会行为。因此，这些神经肽为理解男性和女性社会行为的神经基础提供了重要线索。然而，临床前研究的行为和性别特异性功能的血管加压素和催产素在发展过程中是缺乏的。这项研究计划的目标是阐明加压素和催产素的作用，并解决发展过程中社会行为调节的性别差异。我将使用互补的方法，包括国家的最先进的神经解剖学和分子技术和在体内操纵的神经肽传递，以确定的分布和行为功能的加压素和催产素系统在青少年男性和女性大鼠的大脑。这些结果将产生新的见解在大脑的行为功能的性别差异，在发展过程中的加压素和催产素。

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.