Hippocampus oxytocin signaling promotes prosocial eating in rats

ABSTRACT The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) influences both food intake and social behavior. Given that food preference and consumption are heavily affected by social factors in mammals, it is critical to understand the extent that OT’s role in regulating these two fundamental behaviors is interconnected. Here we evaluated the role of OT signaling in the dentate gyrus of the dorsal hippocampus (HPCd), a brain region recently linked with eating and social memory, on food preference and consumption in rats under conditions that vary with regards to social presence and conspecific familiarity. Results from neuropharmacological and virogenetic knockdown approaches reveal that HPCd OT signaling promotes eating in the presence of a familiar but not an unfamiliar conspecific. Additionally, HPCd OT receptor signaling is required for the social transmission of food preference. These findings collectively identify the HPCd as a novel substrate where oxytocin synergistically influences eating and social behaviors.