Short communicationCentrally-administered oxytocin promotes preference for familiar objects at a short delay in ovariectomized female rats

•We tested object preference in female rats in response to oxytocin and saline.•Oxytocin treatment reversed preference from novelty to familiarity.•Oxytocin might elicit its effects by increasing the saliency of a familiar stimulus.

Oxytocin has been previously associated with social attachment behaviors in various species, however, most studies focused on partner preference in the socially-monogamous prairie vole. In these, oxytocin treatment was shown to promote partner preference, such that females receiving either central or pulsatile peripheral administration would spend more time with a familiar male. This behavioral outcome was blocked by oxytocin receptor antagonist treatment. The aim of the current study was to further explore the preference-inducing properties of oxytocin by examining its effects on object preference on ovariectomized female rats. In other words, we assessed whether these effects would apply to objects and if they would be persistent across species. Eight rats were infused with oxytocin into the left ventricle and object preference was assessed at two delays: 30 min and 4 h. At the 30 min delay, oxytocin-treated animals showed preference for the familiar object, whereas saline-treated controls exhibited preference for the novel object. At the 4 h delay, both groups showed novel-object preference. Our findings show that oxytocin modulates object preference in the female rat at a shorter delay, similar to the findings from partner-preference studies in the prairie vole, suggesting that the mechanisms driving object preference might be in part similar to those responsible for partner preference.

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