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Neural circuitry for maternal oxytocin release induced by infant cries

View ORCID ProfileSilvana Valtcheva, Habon A. Issa, View ORCID ProfileKathleen A. Martin, Kanghoon Jung, View ORCID ProfileHyung-Bae Kwon, View ORCID ProfileRobert C. Froemke
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.25.436883
Silvana Valtcheva
1Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
2Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016 USA
3Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
4Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
5Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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Habon A. Issa
1Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
2Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016 USA
3Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
4Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
5Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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Kathleen A. Martin
1Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
2Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016 USA
3Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
4Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
5Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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Kanghoon Jung
6Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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Hyung-Bae Kwon
6Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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Robert C. Froemke
1Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
2Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016 USA
3Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
4Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
5Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
6Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
7Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar
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  • For correspondence: robert.froemke@med.nyu.edu
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Summary

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide important for maternal physiology and childcare, including parturition and milk ejection during nursing. Suckling triggers oxytocin release, but other sensory cues- specifically infant cries- can elevate oxytocin levels in new human mothers, indicating that cries can activate hypothalamic oxytocin neurons. Here we describe a neural circuit routing auditory information about infant vocalizations to the oxytocin system of the mouse brain. We performed in vivo electrophysiological recordings and photometry from identified oxytocin neurons in awake maternal mice presented with pup calls. We found that oxytocin neurons responded to pup vocalizations via input from the posterior intralaminar thalamus, and repetitive thalamic stimulation induced lasting disinhibition of oxytocin neurons. Suppression of this pathway impaired maternal behavior and playing pup calls led to central oxytocin release in vivo. This circuit provides a mechanism for transforming acoustic input into hormonal output to ensure modulation of brain state required for successful parenting.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted March 25, 2021.
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Neural circuitry for maternal oxytocin release induced by infant cries
Silvana Valtcheva, Habon A. Issa, Kathleen A. Martin, Kanghoon Jung, Hyung-Bae Kwon, Robert C. Froemke
bioRxiv 2021.03.25.436883; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.25.436883
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Neural circuitry for maternal oxytocin release induced by infant cries
Silvana Valtcheva, Habon A. Issa, Kathleen A. Martin, Kanghoon Jung, Hyung-Bae Kwon, Robert C. Froemke
bioRxiv 2021.03.25.436883; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.25.436883

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