Social and Environmental Determinants of Centrally Administered Oxytocin Effects on Male Squirrel Monkey Behavior
Year: 1992
Type: article
Abstract: Oxytocin administered centrally to rats has been associated with the modulation of various social initiatives including maternal and sexual behaviors.'The nature of these effects depends on gonadal hormone s t a t u ~. ~. ~We investigated the effects of centrally administered oxytocin (OT) on the behavior of pair-housed male squirrel monkeys during interactions with a familiar female monkey and during short isolation tests.Squirrel monkeys provide an unusual opportunity to investigate the possible interaction of oxytocin and testosterone without exogenous steroid priming, as they show consistent, profound differences in plasma testosterone depending on socialIn the current experiments, pairs of male squirrel monkeys established reliable and persistent dominance relationships with dominant males showing increased sexual and aggressive behavior as well as significantly higher plasma concentrations of testosterone (T) compared to subordinates.During a three-hour interaction with a familiar female monkey, OT (0.1 -1.0 pg) increased the sexual and aggressive behavior of dominant monkeys without affecting these measures in the subordinate (FIG.1).In contrast to these effects in the dominants, OT increased associative and marking behaviors only in subordinate monkeys.Central administration of the OT receptor antagonist OTA
Authors: J. T. WINSLOW, T. R. INSEL
Institution: National Institute of Mental Health
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2007335459