There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Young male rats were exposed two times for 5 min, to older male rats with an interval
of 30 min in the anti-vasopressin serum experiments and with an interval of 120 min
in the anti-oxytocin serum experiments. The time spent by the older rats with social
investigation of the younger animal was scored during the two encounters. In placebo-treated
animals the time spent on social investigation of the younger animal during the second
encounter at 30 min is significantly shorter than during the first one (social recognition).
However, intracerebroventricular or local application of anti-vasopressin serum in
the dorsal or ventral hippocampus or in the dorsal septal area, but not in the n.
olfactorius, results in similar periods of time spent for social investigation during
the two encounters. Thus, endogenous vasopressin in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus
and in the dorsal septal region plays a physiological role in social recognition/memory.
In placebo-treated rats the time spent on social investigation of the younger animal
during the second encounter at 120 min is similar to that during the first encounter.
However, local administration of anti-oxytocin serum in the ventral hippocampus, but
not in the dorsal hippocampus, nor in the n. olfactorius or the septal area, results
in shorter investigation times during the second encounter. Thus, taken together the
presence or local release of vasopressin and oxytocin in the ventral hippocampus and
that of vasopressin (but not oxytocin) in the dorsal hippocampus and dorsal septal
area are of physiological importance for social recognition.