vasopressin

The circadian clock and neural circuits maintaining body fluid homeostasis

Neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN, the brain’s master circadian clock) display a 24 hour cycle in the their rate of action potential discharge whereby firing rates are high during the light phase and lower during the dark phase. Although it is generally agreed that this cycle of activity is a key mediator of the clock’s neural and humoral output, surprisingly little is known about how changes in clock electrical activity can mediate scheduled physiological changes at different times of day. Using opto- and chemogenetic approaches in mice we have shown that the onset of electrical activity in vasopressin releasing SCN neurons near Zeitgeber time 22 (ZT22) activates glutamatergic thirst-promoting neurons in the OVLT (organum vasculosum lamina terminalis) to promote water intake prior to sleep. This effect is mediated by activity-dependent release of vasopressin from the axon terminals of SCN neurons which acts as a neurotransmitter on OVLT neurons. More recently we found that the clock receives excitatory input from a different subset of sodium sensing neurons in the OVLT. Activation of these neurons by a systemic salt load delivered at ZT19 stimulated the electrical activity of SCN neurons which are normally silent at this time. Remarkably, this effect induced an acute reduction in non-shivering thermogenesis and body temperature, which is an adaptive response to the salt load. These findings provide information regarding the mechanisms by which the SCN promotes scheduled physiological rhythms and indicates that the clock’s output circuitry can also be recruited to mediate an unscheduled homeostatic response.

Top-down neuromodulation of vasopressin cells in the olfactory bulb: implications for social discrimination

Potentiated vasopressin ascending system in the C58/JBL mice: Is there a relationship between vasopressin system abnormality and autistic phenotype?

FENS Forum 2024

Vasopressin shifts the excitation-inhibition balance in the olfactory bulb network via differential effects on olfactory bulb neuron subtypes

FENS Forum 2024

Arginine vasopressin increases the excitatory synaptic drive and firing activity of developing serotonergic neurons in neonatal dorsal raphe nucleus

Circadian rhythm of neuronal activity in vasopressin neurons of the SCN in male and female rats

Sex differences in behavioral and neurochemical effects of amphetamine modulated by vasopressin in the lateral septum

Kisspeptin-13 may induce anxiety-like behaviour via modulation of central vasopressin in rats

Mimicking social environment reveals oxytocin, vasopressin and plasticity variations in mouse models of social interaction deficits

Oxytocin and vasopressin neurons in the antero-lateral preoptic (ALPO) region modulate the reward system

Vasopressin acts as a synapse organizer in limbic regions by boosting PSD95 and GluA1 expression

Vasopressin inhibits projection neurons in the olfactory bulb via increased excitation of inhibitory interneurons

Dysregulation of vasopressin release from the bed nucleus of stria terminalis to the lateral septum promotes social deficits in Shank3B+/- mice

FENS Forum 2024

Exploring the role of UCP2 uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) in social behaviour through vasopressinergic pathways

FENS Forum 2024

Vasopressin neurons control mating behavior in zebrafish

FENS Forum 2024