Reduction in 50-kHz call-numbers and suppression of tickling-associated positive affective behaviour after lesioning of the lateral hypothalamic parvafox nucleus in rats

- Wistar rats were tickled before and after excitotoxic lesioning of the lateral hypothalamic parvafox nucleus.
- Ultrasonic vocalisations (USVs) that were emitted during the tickling of rats and their tendency to approach and follow the experimenter's hand were analysed.
- Lesioning was considered successful if the number of parvalbumin-immunoreactive (PV-ir) cells in the area of the parvafox nucleus was reduced beyond a threshold level.
- Rats with bilaterally successful lesions manifested the most profound surgery-associated reduction in the number of 50-kHz USVs and in the tendency to approach and follow the experimenter's hand.
- Positive correlations were found between each of the four investigated parameters.

The parvafox nucleus is located ventrolaterally in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA). Its core and shell are composed of neurons expressing the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin (PV) and the transcription factor Foxb1, respectively. Given the known functions of the LHA and that the parvafox nucleus receives afferents from the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and projects to the periaqueductal gray matter, a functional role of this entity in the expression of positive emotions has been postulated.The purpose of the present study was to ascertain whether the deletion of neurons in the parvafox nucleus influenced the tickling-induced 50-kHz calls, which are thought to reflect positive affective states, in rats. To this end, tickling of the animals (heterospecific play) was combined with intracerebral injections of the excitotoxin kainic acid into the parvafox nucleus.The most pronounced surgery-associated reduction in 50-kHz call-numbers was observed in the group of rats in which, on the basis of PV-immunoreactive-cell counts in the parvafox nucleus, bilateral lesions had been successfully produced. Two other parameters that were implemented to quantify positive affective behaviour, namely, an approach towards and a following of the hand of the tickling experimenter, were likewise most markedly suppressed in the group of rats with bilaterally successful lesions. Furthermore, positive correlations were found between each of the investigated parameters. Our data afford evidence that the parvafox nucleus plays a role in the production of 50-kHz calls in rats, and, more generally, in the expression of positive emotions.

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