Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hayashi, Himeka, Tateishi, Sayaka, Inutsuka, Ayumu, Maejima, Sho, Hagiwara, Daisuke, Sakuma, Yasuo, Onaka, Tatsushi, Grinevich, Valery, Sakamoto, Hirotaka
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: Current biology : CB 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40472853/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1868266193708646400
author Hayashi, Himeka
Tateishi, Sayaka
Inutsuka, Ayumu
Maejima, Sho
Hagiwara, Daisuke
Sakuma, Yasuo
Onaka, Tatsushi
Grinevich, Valery
Sakamoto, Hirotaka
author_facet Hayashi, Himeka
Tateishi, Sayaka
Inutsuka, Ayumu
Maejima, Sho
Hagiwara, Daisuke
Sakuma, Yasuo
Onaka, Tatsushi
Grinevich, Valery
Sakamoto, Hirotaka
Hayashi, Himeka
Tateishi, Sayaka
Inutsuka, Ayumu
Maejima, Sho
Hagiwara, Daisuke
Sakuma, Yasuo
Onaka, Tatsushi
Grinevich, Valery
Sakamoto, Hirotaka
collection PubMed - marine biology
contents Oxytocin facilitates human touch-induced play behavior in rats. Hayashi, Himeka Tateishi, Sayaka Inutsuka, Ayumu Maejima, Sho Hagiwara, Daisuke Sakuma, Yasuo Onaka, Tatsushi Grinevich, Valery Sakamoto, Hirotaka Animals Oxytocin Rats Male Humans Touch Receptors, Oxytocin Play and Playthings Rats, Sprague-Dawley Social Behavior Touch Perception Supraoptic Nucleus Pleasant touch sensations play a fundamental role in social bonding, yet the neural mechanisms underlying affinity-like behaviors remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that juvenile-adolescent rats, which naturally engage in social play with peers characterized by rough-and-tumble interactions and 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations indicating pleasant sensations, develop a strong affinity for human hands through similar playful contact achieved by repeated tickling with human hands. Using this rat with tickling-induced high affinity for human hands, we discovered that repeated tickling mimicking rough-and-tumble play led to increased oxytocin receptor (OTR) expression in the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl). Inhibition of oxytocin signaling in the VMHvl reduced affinity-like behaviors from rats to human hands. These findings suggest that OTR neurons in VMHvl play an important role in the increase in affinity for human hands induced by pleasant touch sensation with human touch-induced play behavior. Based on retrograde and anterograde tracing studies examining the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) as primary sources of oxytocin, we demonstrate that a subset of oxytocin fibers in the VMHvl originate from the SON, suggesting that affinity-like behavior from rats to human hands may be controlled by oxytocin signaling from magnocellular neurons. Together, this work advances our understanding of how oxytocin shapes social behavior and may inform the development of therapeutic strategies to promote positive social interactions.
format Artículo científico
id pubmed_40472853
institution PubMed
language en
publishDate 2025
publisher Current biology : CB
record_format pubmed
spellingShingle Oxytocin facilitates human touch-induced play behavior in rats.
Hayashi, Himeka
Tateishi, Sayaka
Inutsuka, Ayumu
Maejima, Sho
Hagiwara, Daisuke
Sakuma, Yasuo
Onaka, Tatsushi
Grinevich, Valery
Sakamoto, Hirotaka
Animals
Oxytocin
Rats
Male
Humans
Touch
Receptors, Oxytocin
Play and Playthings
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Social Behavior
Touch Perception
Supraoptic Nucleus
Oxytocin facilitates human touch-induced play behavior in rats. Hayashi, Himeka Tateishi, Sayaka Inutsuka, Ayumu Maejima, Sho Hagiwara, Daisuke Sakuma, Yasuo Onaka, Tatsushi Grinevich, Valery Sakamoto, Hirotaka Animals Oxytocin Rats Male Humans Touch Receptors, Oxytocin Play and Playthings Rats, Sprague-Dawley Social Behavior Touch Perception Supraoptic Nucleus Pleasant touch sensations play a fundamental role in social bonding, yet the neural mechanisms underlying affinity-like behaviors remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that juvenile-adolescent rats, which naturally engage in social play with peers characterized by rough-and-tumble interactions and 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations indicating pleasant sensations, develop a strong affinity for human hands through similar playful contact achieved by repeated tickling with human hands. Using this rat with tickling-induced high affinity for human hands, we discovered that repeated tickling mimicking rough-and-tumble play led to increased oxytocin receptor (OTR) expression in the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl). Inhibition of oxytocin signaling in the VMHvl reduced affinity-like behaviors from rats to human hands. These findings suggest that OTR neurons in VMHvl play an important role in the increase in affinity for human hands induced by pleasant touch sensation with human touch-induced play behavior. Based on retrograde and anterograde tracing studies examining the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) as primary sources of oxytocin, we demonstrate that a subset of oxytocin fibers in the VMHvl originate from the SON, suggesting that affinity-like behavior from rats to human hands may be controlled by oxytocin signaling from magnocellular neurons. Together, this work advances our understanding of how oxytocin shapes social behavior and may inform the development of therapeutic strategies to promote positive social interactions.
title Oxytocin facilitates human touch-induced play behavior in rats.
topic Animals
Oxytocin
Rats
Male
Humans
Touch
Receptors, Oxytocin
Play and Playthings
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Social Behavior
Touch Perception
Supraoptic Nucleus
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40472853/