Paraventricular hypothalamic vasopressin neurons induce self-grooming in mice
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Abstract Self-grooming plays an essential role in hygiene maintenance, thermoregulation, and stress response. However, the neural populations involved in self-grooming remain largely unknown. The paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH) has been implicated in the regulation of self-grooming. Arginine vasopressin-producing neurons are among the major neuronal populations in the PVH (PVHAVP), which play important roles in water homeostasis, blood pressure regulation, feeding, and stress response. Here, we report the critical role of PVHAVP neurons in the induction of self-grooming. Optogenetic activation of PVHAVP neurons immediately induced self-grooming in freely moving mice. Chemogenetic activation of these neurons also increased time spent self-grooming. In contrast, their chemogenetic inhibition significantly reduced naturally occurring self-grooming, suggesting that PVHAVP-induced grooming has physiological relevance. Notably, optogenetic activation of PVHAVP neurons triggered self-grooming over other adaptive behaviors, such as voracious feeding induced by fasting and social interaction with female mice. Thus, our study proposes the novel role of PVHAVP neurons in regulating self-grooming behavior and, consequently, hygiene maintenance and stress response. Furthermore, uncontrolled activation of these neurons may be potentially relevant to diseases characterized by compulsive behaviors and impaired social interaction, such as autism, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and anorexia nervosa.
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Paraventricular vasopressin cell stimulation in male mice caused self-grooming instead of social interactions with female mice.
“However, PVN AVP cell stimulation in male mice caused self-grooming instead of social interactions with female mice (92).”
From Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and Social Behavior: From Neural Circuits to Clinical Opportunities (2022) · cites this paper as [92]
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- Authors
- Islam, M. T., Maejima, T., Matsui, A., & Mieda, M.
- Affiliations
- Kanazawa University (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Mieda, Michihiro
- Venue
- Molecular Brain
- Published
- 2022-05-23
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 47-47
- ISSN
- 1756-6606 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9125887
- OpenAlex
- W4281381707
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 3.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Molecular Brain (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI (JP16H05120, JP19H03399, JP20K21498, JP18K06519)
- Takeda Science Foundation
- Naito Foundation
- Daiichi Sankyo Foundation of Life Science
- Kao Research Council for the Study of Healthcare Science
- Kanazawa University CHOZEN project
- MEXT Japanese Government Scholarship for International Students
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
- Keywords
- self-grooming, paraventricular nucleus, arginine vasopressin neurons, hygiene practices, stress response, compulsive behavior, optogenetic stimulation, chemogenetic inhibition, autism spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexia nervosa, social interaction
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Arginine Vasopressin, Female, Grooming, Neurons, Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus, Mice, Optogenetics
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