BEIJING - Chinese scientists have identified a new molecular pathway underlying the "love hormone" that enables rodents to remember their brothers and sisters.
The findings revealed a mechanism of social memory that allows animals to distinguish and remember specific individuals that may become disrupted in social disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, according to a study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Signaling.Social memory supports behaviors such as cooperation and mating, and it might go awry in autism and other disorders that cause abnormal social behavior, the researchers said.
The oxytocin, a hormone released when women give birth and when people fall in love, has been known to be highly active in brain areas that regulate social behavior and emotion. But it has remained unclear exactly how the hormone and its receptor control social behavior on the molecular level.
Scientists from Peking University and Xuanwu Hospital under Capital Medical University found that the long-term social memory of mice and rats depends on a signaling pathway that involves the oxytocin receptor.
When those rodents are doing social activities, an enzyme called PKD1 modifies the oxytocin receptor in a way that can further strengthen the oxytocin activity, according to the study.
The study revealed that owing to this self-sustaining mechanism, rats and mice are able to recognize their littermates.
Then, the scientists mutated this receptor and they found those animals forget their siblings after 24 hours of separation, according to the study.
"The mechanism only regulates long-term social memory, with short-term social memory or memory of inanimate objects unaffected," said Wang Yun, the paper's co-corresponding author and a professor of neuroscience with Peking University.
The findings suggest a potential therapeutic strategy to improve people's social learning and prosocial behaviors, said Wang.
- Xinhua
