@article{ref1,
title="The role of VIP in social behavior: neural hotspots for the modulation of affiliation, aggression, and parental care",
journal="Integrative and comparative biology",
year="2016",
author="Kingsbury, Marcy A. and Wilson, Leah C.",
volume="56",
number="6",
pages="1238-1249",
abstract="Although the modulation of social behaviors by most major neurochemical systems has been explored, there are still standouts, including the study of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). VIP is a modulator of circadian, reproductive, and seasonal rhythms and is well known for its role in reproductive behavior, as it is the main vertebrate prolactin-releasing hormone. Originally isolated as a gut peptide, VIP and its cognate receptors are present in virtually every brain area that is important for social behavior, including all nodes of the core &quot;social behavior network&quot; (SBN). Furthermore, VIP cells show increased transcriptional activity throughout the SBN in response to social stimuli. Using a combination of comparative and mechanistic approaches in socially diverse species of estrildid finches and emberizid sparrows, we have identified neural &quot;hotspots&quot; in the SBN that relate to avian affiliative behavior, as well as neural &quot;hotspots&quot; that may represent critical nodes underlying a trade-off between aggression and parental care. Specifically, we have found that: (1) VIP fiber densities and VIP receptor binding in specific brain sites, such as the lateral septum, medial extended amygdala, arcopallium, and medial nidopallium, correlate with species and/or seasonal differences in flocking behavior, and (2) VIP cells and fibers within the anterior hypothalamus-caudocentral septal circuit relate positively to aggression and negatively to parental care while VIP elements in the mediobasal hypothalamus relate negatively to aggression and positively to parental care. Thus, while a given behavior or social context likely activates VIP circuitry throughout the SBN and beyond, key brain sites emerge as potential &quot;hotspots&quot; for the modulation of affiliation, aggression, and parental care.<br><br>© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1540-7063",
doi="10.1093/icb/icw122",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/icw122"
}