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Isolation‐induced vocalization in the infant rat depends on the nucleus accumbens
Author(s) -
Muller Jeff M.,
Shair Harry N.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21447
Subject(s) - nucleus accumbens , muscimol , social isolation , neuroscience , striatum , psychology , isolation (microbiology) , dorsolateral , agonist , biology , central nervous system , medicine , dopamine , receptor , prefrontal cortex , cognition , microbiology and biotechnology , psychotherapist
Mammalian infants vocalize when socially isolated. Vocalization guides the return of the caregiver and thereby maintains an environment critical to the infant's survival. Although the role of the periaqueductal gray area (PAG) in these vocalizations is established, other aspects of the relevant neural circuitry remain under‐studied. Here we report that output from the nucleus accumbens (Acb) is necessary for isolation‐induced vocalizations of infant rats aged postnatal days (PND) 11–13. Local inhibition via infusion of the GABA A agonist muscimol (.8 μg/side) of the Acb, but not the dorsolateral striatum, blocked isolation‐induced vocalizations, independent of whether the isolation was at room temperature, followed a brief reunion with the dam, or occurred in a cool (10 °C) environment. These findings highlight a possible anatomical area mediating the mammalian infant response to social separation and, more generally, to the development of social attachment.