Oxytocin receptor neuron activity in the MPOA regulates consolation-like behavior in mice

Description

This dataset accompanies a study investigating the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying individual differences in consolation-like behavior in male mice, with a focus on the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and the oxytocin system. Using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of the MPOA from high- and low-consolation mice, we identified 1,190 differentially expressed genes and selected Oxtr as a candidate molecule. Unexpectedly, Oxtr mRNA was downregulated in high-consolation mice despite elevated plasma oxytocin levels. Immunofluorescence revealed increased OTR/c-Fos colocalization in the high-consolation group, indicating greater activation of OTR-expressing neurons. Chemogenetic activation of MPOA OTR neurons enhanced consolation and sociability, whereas inhibition suppressed consolation. The dataset includes raw data corresponding to five main figures and two supplementary figures. These data support the conclusion that the activity of MPOA OTR neurons, rather than the expression level of Oxtr, regulates consolation behavior. They can be reused for re-analysis of the data, meta-analyses of oxytocin-related social phenotypes, or comparative studies of individual differences in empathy-like behaviors. All animal procedures were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Nanyang Normal University (No. 20250311001).

Institutions

• Nanyang Normal University

  Henan, Nanyang

Categories

Funders

• National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Beijing, Beijing

  Grant ID: 32270529

Licence