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. 2011 Jul 6;2:37. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2011.00037

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Oxytocinergic projection in the rodent brain. Oxytocin release is anatomically suited to signal in reward, stress, and maternal circuitries. The magnocellular neurons of the PVN (red oval) and SON (blue oval) project to the posterior pituitary to release OT peripherally in response to suckling or stressful stimuli. The parvocellular neurons of the PVN also project to the reward circuitry (VTA and NAc), stress circuitry (hippocampus, AMY, and intra-PVN release), and maternal circuitry (MPOA/BNST and OB), and are believed to be critical for appropriate social interactions. PVN, paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus; SON, supraoptic nucleus of hypothalamus; VTA, ventral tegmental area; NAc, nucleus accumbens; AMY, amygdala; MPOA, medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus; OB, olfactory bulb. Brain schematic adapted from Paxinos and Watson (1997).