Oxytocin regulates marmosets’ affiliation and vocal communication

Introduction

Primate social interactions rely heavily on visual and acoustic signalling. Yet little remains known about how social context affects how vocalisations are perceived and produced, and the neural mechanisms that support this process. Given the complex dynamics that typify primate societies, addressing such questions remains of critical importance to elucidating the mysteries of the primate social brain.

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that oxytocin (OT), a neurohormone that regulates social behaviour and a promising therapeutic target for psychiatric disorders, influences context-dependent effects on primate vocal communication, notably by acting in higher order brain regions involved in vocalisations and encoding social information.

Research Proposal

I propose to explore the neural basis of socially adapted acoustic communication. To do so, I will:

1. Record vocalisations from marmoset monkeys, a highly vocal primate and promising model for neuroscience, in different social contexts designed to elicit positively or negatively valenced calls between differently affiliated monkeys.
2. Conduct these experiments in semi-natural conditions, focusing on freely moving animals expressing their normal behaviours within the colony. This is a highly novel approach that starkly contrasts with classical task-based experiments.

Methodology

Additionally, using modern tools including high throughput neurophysiology, chemogenetics, and intravenous viruses, I will manipulate OT neuron activity while recording from hundreds of neurons. This will enable analyses focusing on neural populations instead of single units, all wireless and without interfering with the animals’ behaviours.

Expected Outcomes

This multidisciplinary approach will allow me to uncover some fundamental aspects of how the primate brain encodes natural conversations and adapts its response accordingly to the social context. Moreover, I will for the first time study how endogenous OT controls social behaviours in primates.