Neuroanatomical and cellular substrates of the behavior hypergrooming induced by microinjection of oxytocin in central nucleus of amygdala, an experimental model of obsessive-compulsive disorder / Substratos neuroanatômicos e celulares do comportamento de autolimpeza exacerbada (hypergrooming) induzido pela injeção de ocitocina no núcleo central da amígdala, um modelo experimental de transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2005

RESUMO

Oxytocin (OT) is a neurosecretory nonapeptide synthesized in hypothalamic cells that project to the neurohypophysis as well as to widely distributed sites in the central nervous system. Central OT microinjections induce a variety of cognitive, sexual, reproductive, grooming and affiliative behaviors in animals. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) includes a range of cognitive and behavioral symptoms that bear some relationship to dimensions of behavior associated with OT. The administration of OT into central nucleus of amygdala (CeA) induces hypergrooming, considered a symptom of OCD. Here, we study the neuroanatomical and cellular substrates of this behavior. Our data suggest a link between the CeA and the “hypothalamic grooming area” (HGA). The HGA includes parts of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus and the dorsal hypothalamic area. Our data on co-localization of OT (immunohistochemistry for peptide), OT receptor (binding assay) and retrogradely labeled cells after Fluoro Gold injection in CeA suggest that CeA and connections are an important substrate of the circuit underlying this OCD-like OT-dependent behavior.

ASSUNTO(S)

hypothalamus hipotálamo ocitocina compulsões núcleo central da amígdala compulsions central nucleus of amygdala oxytocin

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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