• Mice living in social hierarchies express different levels of oxytocin receptor (OTR) and vasop... more • Mice living in social hierarchies express different levels of oxytocin receptor (OTR) and vasopressin 1a receptor (V1aR) binding in various brain regions according to their social status. • Alphas and subdominants have higher OTR binding in the nucleus accumbens compared to subordinates. • Alphas have higher OTR binding in the anterior olfactory nucleus compared to subdominants and subordinates. • Alphas have higher OTR and lower V1aR binding in the rostral lateral septum compared to subordinates. • Alphas have lower V1aR binding in the lateral preoptic area compared to subordinates. .
Competent social functioning of group-living species relies on the ability of individuals to dete... more Competent social functioning of group-living species relies on the ability of individuals to detect and utilize conspecific social cues to guide behavior. Previous studies have identified numerous brain regions involved in processing these external cues, collectively referred to as the Social Decision-Making Network. However, how the brain encodes social information with respect to an individual’s social status has not been thoroughly examined. In mice, cues about an individual’s identity, including social status, are conveyed through urinary proteins. In this study, we assessed the neural cFos immunoreactivity in dominant and subordinate male mice exposed to familiar and unfamiliar dominant and subordinate male urine. The posteroventral medial amygdala was the only brain region that responded exclusively to dominant compared to subordinate male urine. In all other brain regions, including the VMH, PMv, and vlPAG, activity is modulated by a combination of odor familiarity and the so...
The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin and their receptors have established roles in the regu... more The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin and their receptors have established roles in the regulation of mammalian social behavior including parental care, sex, affiliation and pair-bonding, but less is known regarding their relationship to social dominance and subordination within social hierarchies. We have previously demonstrated that male mice can form stable linear dominance hierarchies with individuals occupying one of three classes of social status: alpha, subdominant, subordinate. Alpha males exhibit high levels of aggression and rarely receive aggression. Subdominant males exhibit aggression towards subordinate males but also receive aggression from more dominant individuals. Subordinate males rarely exhibit aggression and receive aggression from more dominant males. Here, we examined whether variation in social status was associated with levels of oxytocin (OTR) and vasopressin 1a (V1aR) receptor binding in socially relevant brain regions. We found that socially dominant...
Living in social hierarchies requires individuals to adapt their behavior and physiology. We have... more Living in social hierarchies requires individuals to adapt their behavior and physiology. We have previously shown that male mice living in groups of 12 form linear and stable hierarchies with alpha males producing the highest daily level of major urinary proteins and urine. These findings suggest that maintaining alpha status in a social group requires higher food and water intake to generate energetic resources and produce more urine. To investigate whether social status affects eating and drinking behaviors, we measured the frequency of these behaviors in each individual mouse living in a social hierarchy with non-stop video recording for 24 h following the initiation of group housing and after social ranks were stabilized. We show alpha males eat and drink most frequently among all individuals in the hierarchy and had reduced quiescence of foraging both at the start of social housing and after hierarchies were established. Subdominants displayed a similar pattern of behavior fol...
• Mice living in social hierarchies express different levels of oxytocin receptor (OTR) and vasop... more • Mice living in social hierarchies express different levels of oxytocin receptor (OTR) and vasopressin 1a receptor (V1aR) binding in various brain regions according to their social status. • Alphas and subdominants have higher OTR binding in the nucleus accumbens compared to subordinates. • Alphas have higher OTR binding in the anterior olfactory nucleus compared to subdominants and subordinates. • Alphas have higher OTR and lower V1aR binding in the rostral lateral septum compared to subordinates. • Alphas have lower V1aR binding in the lateral preoptic area compared to subordinates. .
Competent social functioning of group-living species relies on the ability of individuals to dete... more Competent social functioning of group-living species relies on the ability of individuals to detect and utilize conspecific social cues to guide behavior. Previous studies have identified numerous brain regions involved in processing these external cues, collectively referred to as the Social Decision-Making Network. However, how the brain encodes social information with respect to an individual’s social status has not been thoroughly examined. In mice, cues about an individual’s identity, including social status, are conveyed through urinary proteins. In this study, we assessed the neural cFos immunoreactivity in dominant and subordinate male mice exposed to familiar and unfamiliar dominant and subordinate male urine. The posteroventral medial amygdala was the only brain region that responded exclusively to dominant compared to subordinate male urine. In all other brain regions, including the VMH, PMv, and vlPAG, activity is modulated by a combination of odor familiarity and the so...
The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin and their receptors have established roles in the regu... more The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin and their receptors have established roles in the regulation of mammalian social behavior including parental care, sex, affiliation and pair-bonding, but less is known regarding their relationship to social dominance and subordination within social hierarchies. We have previously demonstrated that male mice can form stable linear dominance hierarchies with individuals occupying one of three classes of social status: alpha, subdominant, subordinate. Alpha males exhibit high levels of aggression and rarely receive aggression. Subdominant males exhibit aggression towards subordinate males but also receive aggression from more dominant individuals. Subordinate males rarely exhibit aggression and receive aggression from more dominant males. Here, we examined whether variation in social status was associated with levels of oxytocin (OTR) and vasopressin 1a (V1aR) receptor binding in socially relevant brain regions. We found that socially dominant...
Living in social hierarchies requires individuals to adapt their behavior and physiology. We have... more Living in social hierarchies requires individuals to adapt their behavior and physiology. We have previously shown that male mice living in groups of 12 form linear and stable hierarchies with alpha males producing the highest daily level of major urinary proteins and urine. These findings suggest that maintaining alpha status in a social group requires higher food and water intake to generate energetic resources and produce more urine. To investigate whether social status affects eating and drinking behaviors, we measured the frequency of these behaviors in each individual mouse living in a social hierarchy with non-stop video recording for 24 h following the initiation of group housing and after social ranks were stabilized. We show alpha males eat and drink most frequently among all individuals in the hierarchy and had reduced quiescence of foraging both at the start of social housing and after hierarchies were established. Subdominants displayed a similar pattern of behavior fol...
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Papers by Eilene Yang