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Interdependency between oxytocin and dopamine in trust-based learning in mice
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Orientador(es)
Resumo(s)
Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide implicated in complex social behaviors such as trust and attachment,
yet the neural mechanisms underlying its effects remain unclear. OT is thought to modulate behavior
by enhancing salience of social cues and attenuating prediction error (PE) processing, the discrepancy
between expected and actual outcomes that drives learning. Since both salience coding and PE
processing involve dopamine (DA), we investigated OT and DA interdependency in social safety
learning using the social transmission of food preference (STFP) paradigm. In STFP, mice overcome
neophobia towards novel food after a conspecific demonstrator signals its safety. We interpreted
STFP acquisition as a functional parallel to human trust-based learning and found that OT enhanced
demonstrated food preference in a trust acquisition condition, but only when DA signaling was intact.
In a trust violation condition, the expectation of food safety was violated by pairing demonstrated food
with lithium chloride (LiCl)-induced aversion. Updating was blocked after OT administration and non
significantly reduced after DA depletion, resulting in a continued preference for demonstrated food.
However, this effect was absent when OT was administered under DA depletion. These findings reveal
a functional interaction between the OT and DA systems in social safety learning, which may have
important implications for OT’s potential in treating disorders involving DA dysfunction.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Oxytocin Dopamine Social learning Social transmission of food preference Trust
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Budniok, S., Callaerts-Vegh, Z., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., Bosmans, G., & D’Hooge, R. (2026). Interdependency between oxytocin and dopamine in trust-based learning in mice. Scientific Reports, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38976-9
Editora
Springer Science and Business Media LLC