Not just for bonding: Nucleus accumbens oxytocin receptors facilitate huddling with strangers and feeding in male spiny mice

Abstract

Although oxytocin receptors (OXTRs) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are well known for their contributions to bonding in mating and parental contexts, little is known about how accumbal OT signaling modulates nonreproductive social behavior. Here we used the communal spiny mouse and viral-mediated CRISPR/Cas9 to decrease OXTR expression in the NAc of males to determine the direct contributions of accumbal OXTRs to behavior during interactions with novel, same-sex conspecifics. To determine whether NAc OXTRs specifically regulate social behaviors, feeding behavior was also assessed in a mealworm eating test. Males with reduced NAc OXTR expression exhibited less huddling with novel, same-sex conspecifics and consumed fewer mealworms compared to control males. These findings suggest that accumbal OXTRs do not specifically modulate social behaviors and that there is strong evolutionary conservation of NAc OXTR social function, such that these receptors facilitate prosocial behavior across rodent species that vary in breeding system and group structure.