PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Social behavior decreases with aging, and we have previously found a substantial decline in social investigative behavior of old female rats. In this study we examined the neural activation pattern (c-Fos mRNA) of young (3 month) and old (18 month) female rats after brief 10 min exposure to a novel female rat in order to identify forebrain regions that show selective age-related alterations in their neural response to social investigation. We also measured relative oxytocin receptor expression (Oxtr mRNA) as a possible factor in age-related declines in c-Fos induction after social interaction. Young rats exposed to a social partner had a greater c-Fos mRNA response than those exposed to novel context alone in the lateral septum and septohypothalamic area, with blunted increases evident in old rats. In addition, c-Fos mRNA levels in the lateral septum were positively correlated with social investigative behavior. Interestingly, age-related differences in c-Fos gene induction were unrelated to the local amount of Oxtr expression within specific brain regions, although we found an age-related decline in Oxtr expression in the ventromedial hypothalamus. This functional neuroanatomical characterization may point to certain brain regions that are especially sensitive to age-related declines associated with social interaction behavior.
摘要：
社会行为随着年龄的增长而减少，我们以前发现老年雌性老鼠的社会调查行为大幅下降。在这项研究中，我们检查了年轻（3个月）和年龄（18个月）的雌性大鼠在短暂暴露于新型雌性大鼠10分钟后的神经激活模式（c-FosmRNA），以确定显示选择性年龄的前脑区域-他们对社会调查的神经反应相关的改变。我们还测量了相对催产素受体表达（OxtrmRNA），作为社交互动后与年龄相关的c-Fos诱导下降的可能因素。暴露于社交伴侣的年轻大鼠比在侧隔和下丘脑中隔区域单独暴露于新环境的大鼠具有更大的c-FosmRNA反应，在年老的老鼠中明显的平缓增加。此外,侧隔c-FosmRNA水平与社会调查行为呈正相关。有趣的是,c-Fos基因诱导的年龄相关差异与特定大脑区域内Oxtr表达的局部量无关，尽管我们发现腹内侧下丘脑Oxtr表达与年龄相关的下降。这种功能性神经解剖学表征可能指向对与社交互动行为相关的年龄相关衰退特别敏感的某些大脑区域。
