Oxytocin and rodent sociosexual responses: from behavior to gene expression

In most mammals, gonadal steroid hormones are required for the expression of species-typical reproductive behavior. Over the past few years it has become evident that neuropeptides, such as oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP), also play a key role in the regulation of both social and sexual behavior. Through studies of gonadal steroid/neuropeptide interactions, we have been able to discover species differences in behavioral and physiological responses to OT that may be associated with species-specific distributions of OT receptors or differential levels of OT gene expression in the central nervous system (CNS). However, the characterization of OT's behavioral effects has been conducted primarily in rats and the neural mechanisms underlying these behaviors are not clearly understood. The present paper will describe and discuss the biological significance of OT-mediated behavioral responses in both female and male prairie voles and rats, speculate on the neural mechanisms (OT receptor regulation) and reproductive physiology involved in species-specific sociosexual behavior, and present new methodologies for studying signal transduction mechanisms involved in OT gene expression in the CNS.