BIO

My name is Skylar Ruffner, and I am a junior and Behavioral Neuroscience major at FSU. I am from San Clemente, CA, and was recruited to FSU as a 10-meter platform diver. I am a part of the FSU Honors Program and am currently completing my Honors in the Major Thesis project under Dr. Elizabeth Hammock and Alicia Gonzalez. My research interests are in social and developmental neuroscience, and my project focuses on oxytocin (OXT) as a modulator of experience-dependent development through social touch circuitry. I plan to pursue a Ph.D. in Neurobiology where I intend to study the effects of early life stress on microglia activity and postnatal neural circuitry development. While I am at FSU, I plan to continue investigating the effects of OXT on postnatal neurodevelopment through my Honors Thesis, and ultimately continue pursuing research under Dr. Hammock.

Evaluation of oxytocin and touch on neonatal thalamus c-Fos activity in mice

Abstract

Maternal-offspring interaction highlights key moments in which social bonding and somatosensory experience are combined to allow for proper maturation from infancy into juvenile life stages. The purpose of this project is to evaluate circuit-specific mechanisms of maternal touch in infant brains. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) has been implicated as a critical factor in the development of infant social and sensory circuitry. OXT may act as a modulatory agent in the periphery through maternal-offspring interactions, and may modulate touch activity within the thalamus during social touch. We used a model of social touch in rodents that includes anogenital stimulation, which emulates the maternal licking of infant rodents, required in neonates to induce micturition. Male and female postnatal day 8 mice (P8) were stimulated in the anogenital region with a paintbrush dipped in 1μm solution of either saline, OXT, or atosiban (OXT receptor antagonist). Brain tissue was processed and analyzed via light microscope for c-Fos activity within the following thalamic nuclei: VPL (ventral posterior lateral), VMpo (ventral medial posterior), and RT (reticular thalamus). c-Fos density was obtained with Image J. An analysis for main effects of sex or treatment or their interaction will be conducted through a 2-way ANOVA. We predict a difference in treatment groups, with decreased c-Fos density for the OXT treated groups within the examined VPL and VMpo nuclei relative to atosiban groups. Ultimately, this experimental model may lead to a better understanding of touch-based mechanisms of experience-dependent development, with implications for developmental disorders with atypical sensory system function.

Keywords: social neuroscience, developmental neuroscience, oxytocin, somatosensory