# Oxytocin Modulation of Neural Circuit Function and Behavior

> **NIH NIH U19** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $2,728,752

## Abstract

Oxytocin is a peptide hormone synthesized and released from the hypothalamus for reproduction and maternal
behavior. Recent studies have tagged oxytocin as a “trust” hormone, promising to improve social deficits in
various mental disorders, such as autism. Despite the enthusiasm for oxytocin, contradictory results in the
efficacy of oxytocin in improving human social behaviors have been reported. Such inconsistency in literature is
likely due to our poor understanding of complexity of oxytocin action, which likely varies with behavioral state,
experience and brain structures. We believe that a better understanding of the endogenous action of oxytocin is
the key to unleash the therapeutic potential of this highly evolutionary conserved neuropeptide. Advancing our
understanding requires cross-level and comparative inter-disciplinary studies by a group of investigators with
overlapping interests and the technical capability to analyze oxytocin signaling across molecular, physiological,
systems behavioral and levels. This includes multi-animal interactions, as many mental disorders are impactful
on social behavior, over the lifespan and throughout the brain. Oxytocin action in maternal brain is especially
important as it represents the most ancient and important function of oxytocin under a social context.
 To these ends, the proposed Brain Initiative Project in NYU School of Medicine on “Oxytocin Modulation
of Neural Circuit Function and Behavior” consists of four inter-related Projects and four Core facilities, including
an Administrative Core, a Data Science Core, a Behavioral Optogenetics Core, and an Oxytocin Receptor
Antibody Production Core. The overarching goal of the four Projects and the Cores is to achieve a better
understanding of the oxytocin modulation in socio-spatial behaviors, which we define as social interactions within
a specific context or behavioral environment. Our team will join forces to tackle the oxytocin system from both
the source (oxytocin neurons) and the receiving ends (oxytocin receptor-expressing neurons) From the source,
Project 1 and 2 will address the connectivity, behavioral influence, in vivo responses, release and experience-
dependent changes of the oxytocin neurons. From the receiving ends, Project 3 will dive into detailed cellular,
synaptic and microcircuit mechanisms that mediate the oxytocin actions. Lastly, Project 4 will combine the
knowledge and techniques developed from Projects 1, 2, and 3 to investigate the state-dependent oxytocin
modulation of aggressive behaviors at a brain site essential for aggression, the ventrolateral part of the
ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl). Intriguingly, a group of oxytocin neurons are found neighboring the VMHvl,
potentially providing a local source of oxytocin although its behavioral relevance is currently unknown. Together
these Projects and Cores develop new tools, use cutting-edge techniques, and large-scale methods to provide
an in-depth description of the neural...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10220151
- **Project number:** 5U19NS107616-04
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** RICHARD W TSIEN
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,728,752
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-15 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10220151

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10220151, Oxytocin Modulation of Neural Circuit Function and Behavior (5U19NS107616-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10220151. Licensed CC0.

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