Journal
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
Volume 37, Issue 2, Pages 145-155Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1006/hbeh.1999.1566
Keywords
knockout; aggression; intrauterine effects; ultrasonic vocalizations; plus maze
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Funding
- NCRR NIH HHS [RR0016] Funding Source: Medline
- NICHD NIH HHS [HD33438] Funding Source: Medline
- PHS HHS [R01M56538-01] Funding Source: Medline
- EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT [R01HD033438] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH &HUMAN DEVELOPMENT [R37HD033438] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Previous studies have shown that oxytocin (OT)-deficient female mice produced by homologous recombination fail to lactate but exhibit normal parturition and reproductive behaviors. We examined the ultrasonic vocalizations of infant mice and the subsequent aggressive and fear behavior of adult mate OT knockout (OT-KO) mice. Infant OT-KO mice were less vocal than wild-type (WT) control mice during separations from the mother and peers. Adult OT-KO males were generally more aggressive in isolation-induced and resident-intruder tests of aggression and less fearful in the plus maze and acoustic startle reflex tests than WT controls. Although the increase in tests of aggression was robust for OT-KO males from obligate litters (progeny of homozygous x homozygous crossings), the increase in aggression was reduced during tests for OT-KO males derived from non-obligate mating (progeny of heterozygous x heterozygous crossings), suggesting that the OT-KO genotype was not, by itself, responsible for the changes in adult behavior. We conclude that the absence of exposure to OT during development was associated with abnormalities in the development of emotional behavior. (C) 2000 Academic Press.
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