This dataset contains the following: video recordings of animal behaviors, RNA-seq analysis, in vitro recordings, and fiber photometry recordings for a study on the regulation by the posterior amygdala (PA) of sexual and aggressive behaviors in male mice. The video recordings are of all animal behaviors from two synchronized cameras on the side and top of the cage with frame by frame behavioral annotation...

Ventrolateral area is known as a critical locus for the generation of conspecific aggression, where neurons responding during multiple phases of a social interaction. However, how these neurons organize aggressive action is still unknown. This study found that a hypothalamic-midbrain circuit that represents hierarchically organized signals during aggression. For this study, C57BL/6N, Swiss Webster,...

Hippocampus has been involved in both cognitive and endocrine functions. This study measured electrophysiological activity from the hippocampus and interstitial glucose concentrations in the body of freely behaving rats to identify an activity pattern that may link these disparate functions of the hippocampus. For this study, they used adult Long Evans rats. During the experiment, rats were recorded...

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide released in the central nervous system, which is involved in a wide range of behaviors including reproduction, parental care, and pair bonding. In addition, peripheral oxytocin is important for milk ejection during nursing and uterine contractions during labor. Oxytocin is produced mainly in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus. This...

Social behaviors, such as mating, fighting, and parenting, are innate and supported by dedicated neural circuits. However, the molecular identities of these circuits and how they are established developmentally and shaped by experience remain unknown. This study demonstrate that medial amygdala cells originating from two embryonically parcellated developmental lineages have distinct response patterns...

The hypothalamic-midbrain neural circuits play an important role in social interactions involving aggression, defense, and mating. However, how population-averaged neural activity measured by multi-fiber photometry (MFP) for calcium fluorescence signals correlates with social behaviors is a fundamental question. This study proposed a state-space analysis framework to characterize mouse MFP data based...

Fighting is a major means to compete for limited resources in the wild. After the fight ends, the loser continuously avoids close interaction with the winner and readily flees when confronted. The neural mechanisms that underlie the rapid and long-lasting behavioral changes induced by defeat remains unclear. This study identified oxytocin neurons in the retrochiasmatic supraoptic nucleus and oxytocin-receptor-expressing...

Aggression is an innate social behavior and aggression directed toward a stronger opponent in animals can lead to severe physical damage or even death. Therefore, disadvantageous fights to survive and reproduce need to be avoided. This study identified the projection from estrogen receptor alpha-expressing cells in the caudal part of the medial preoptic area (cMPOAEsr1) to the ventrolateral part of...

The ventrolateral part of ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl) is an important locus for controlling female sexual behaviors. This study identified the cholecystokinin A receptor (Cckar) expressing cells in the lateral VMHvl (VMHvllCckar) as key controllers for female sexual behaviors. They generated a CckarCre knock-in mouse line to target Cckar expressing cells. In addition, they introduced a highly...

This study examined the interaction of acetylcholine (ACh) and oxytocin (OXT) at slow and fast timescales during various brain states. They used simultaneous fiber-photometric measurements of ACh and OXT variations in the hippocampus using G-protein-coupled receptor activation-based Ach and OXT sensors. These optical measurements were compared with sleep-wake changes and characteristic brain-state-dependent...