Oxytocin mediates rodent social memory within the lateral septum and the medial amygdala depending on the relevance of the social stimulus: Male juvenile versus female adult conspecifics

The biological relevance of the social stimulus seems to importantly determine social memory abilities, as male rats recognized a previously encountered female adult stimulus for at least 2 h (versus 60 min for male juveniles), with a region-dependent contribution of endogenous OXT; while bilateral administration of OXTR-A into the MeA (0.1 μg/1 μl) impaired social memory for adult females only, administration of OXTR-A into the LS via retrodialysis (10 μg/ml, 1.0 μl/min) impaired social memory for both male juveniles and female adults. Overall, these results indicate that brain OXT is a critical mediator of social memory in male rodents and that, depending on the biological relevance of the social stimulus, distinct brain regions are recruited to mediate its effects.