Oxytocinergic Projection from the Hypothalamus to Supramammillary Nucleus Drives Recognition Memory in Mice

Oxytocin (OXT) neurons project to various brain regions and its receptor expression is widely distributed. Although it has been reported that OXT administration affects cognitive function, it’s unclear how endogenous OXT plays roles in cognitive function. The present study examined the role of endogenous OXT in mice cognitive function. OXT neurons were specifically activated by OXT neuron-specific excitatory Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drug (DREADD) expression system and following administration of clozapine-N-oxide (CNO). Object recognition memory (ORM) was assessed with the novel object recognition task (NORT). Moreover, we observed the expression of c-Fos by immunohistochemical staining to confirm the neuronal activity. In NORT, the novel object exploration time percentage significantly increased in CNO-treated mice. CNO-treated mice showed a significant increase in the number of c-Fos-positive cells in the supramammillary nucleus (SuM). In addition, we found that the OXT-positive fibers from PVN were identified in the SuM. Furthermore, mice injected locally with CNO into the SuM to activate OXTergic axons projecting from the PVN to the SuM significantly increased the percentage time of novel object exploration. Taken together, we proposed that ORM in mice could be modulated by OXT neurons in PVN projecting to SuM.