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Cited by 119Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanismsNeuroendocrine regulation and behaviorStress Responses and Cortisol

Social isolation impairs adult neurogenesis in the limbic system and alters behaviors in female prairie voles

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Lieberwirth, Claudia, Liu, Yan, Jia, Xixi, Wang, Zuoxin·2012·Hormones and Behavior
DOI 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.03.005PMC PMC3565461
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Abstract

Disruptions in the social environment, such as social isolation, are distressing and can induce various behavioral and neural changes in the distressed animal. We conducted a series of experiments to test the hypothesis that long-term social isolation affects brain plasticity and alters behavior in the highly social prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). In Experiment 1, adult female prairie voles were injected with a cell division marker, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), and then same-sex pair-housed (control) or single-housed (isolation) for 6 weeks. Social isolation reduced cell proliferation, survival, and neuronal differentiation and altered cell death in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the amygdala. In addition, social isolation reduced cell proliferation in the medial preoptic area and cell survival in the ventromedial hypothalamus. These data suggest that long-term social isolation affects distinct stages of adult neurogenesis in specific limbic brain regions. In Experiment 2, isolated females displayed higher levels of anxiety-like behaviors in both the open field and elevated plus maze tests and higher levels of depression-like behavior in the forced swim test than controls. Further, isolated females showed a higher level of affiliative behavior than controls, but the two groups did not differ in social recognition memory. Together, our data suggest that social isolation not only impairs cell proliferation, survival, and neuronal differentiation in limbic brain areas, but also alters anxiety-like, depression-like, and affiliative behaviors in adult female prairie voles. These data warrant further investigation of a possible link between altered neurogenesis within the limbic system and behavioral changes.

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  • Manipulation of OT/AVP levels via direct exposures to exogenous hormones, agonists, or alteration of the social environment can significantly modify the number of OT, AVP, and TH neurons in the PVN, resulting in anxiety-like behavior and alterations of prototypical male and female sociosexual behavior.

    “Manipulation of OT/AVP levels via direct exposures to exogenous hormones, agonists, or alteration of the social environment can significantly modify the number of OT, AVP, and TH neurons in the PVN, thereby resulting in anxiety-like behavior and alterations of prototypical male and female sociosexual behavior (123–127).”

    From Endocrine Disruption of Vasopressin Systems and Related Behaviors (2017) · cites this paper as [127]

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Authors
Lieberwirth, C., Liu, Y., Jia, X., & Wang, Z.
Affiliations
Florida State University (US)
Corresponding author
Wang, Zuoxin
ORCID
Venue
Hormones and Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-09
Volume
62
Issue
4
Pages
357-366
ISSN
0018-506X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.03.005
PMC
PMC3565461
OpenAlex
W1969767756
Cited by
119
References
3
Citations by year
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FWCI
3.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Hormones and Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
NIH (MHR01-89852, MHR01-58616)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords
social isolation, adult neurogenesis, limbic system, Microtus ochrogaster, hippocampus, dentate gyrus, amygdala, medial preoptic area, ventromedial hypothalamus, neuronal proliferation, neuronal differentiation, anxiety-like behavior, depression-like behavior, affiliative behavior, social recognition memory, neuroplasticity, female behavior
MeSH terms
Animals, Behavior, Animal, Cell Differentiation, Corticosterone, Arvicolinae, Female, Limbic System, Random Allocation, Sex Factors, Social Isolation, Cell Death, Cell Proliferation, Adult Stem Cells, Neurogenesis, Neural Stem Cells

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