論文

査読有り 筆頭著者 国際誌
2020年9月

Oxytocin in the anterior cingulate cortex is involved in helping behaviour

Behavioural Brain Research
  • Atsuhito Yamagishi
  • ,
  • Joungmin Lee
  • ,
  • Nobuya Sato

393
開始ページ
112790
終了ページ
112790
記述言語
英語
掲載種別
研究論文(学術雑誌)
DOI
10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112790
出版者・発行元
Elsevier BV

Empathy toward the distress of others is thought to motivate helping behaviour, in the form of voluntary action to eliminate that distress. Neuropeptide oxytocin is associated with various social cognitive abilities, including empathy and prosocial behaviour. The anterior cingulate cortex is known to be one of the brain regions underlying empathy, and one in which oxytocin receptors are expressed. However, the relationship between helping behaviour and oxytocin in the anterior cingulate cortex is still unclear. The present study investigated whether oxytocin in the anterior cingulate cortex is involved in rats' helping behaviour. In Experiment 1, we examined the influence of blockading the oxytocin receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex on helping behaviour. Impeding oxytocin in the anterior cingulate cortex delayed learning of the helping behaviour. In Experiment 2, we examined immunofluorescent colocalization of oxytocin receptors and c-fos proteins in the anterior cingulate cortex, the anterior insular cortex, and the amygdala in rats that acquired helping behaviour. We found increased c-fos expression in oxytocin receptor-containing neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala when the rats acquired helping behaviour. In addition, the change in neural activation was found in the late phase of the learning. These results suggest that the oxytocin in the cingulate-amygdala pathways may play an important role in helping behaviour.

リンク情報
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112790
PubMed
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32603799
ID情報
  • DOI : 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112790
  • ISSN : 0166-4328
  • PubMed ID : 32603799

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