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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 May 15.
Published in final edited form as: Biol Psychiatry. 2018 Oct 25;85(10):792–801. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.10.008

Figure 1:

Figure 1:

Oxytocin acting in the mesolimbic dopamine system promotes social approach (green line) in positive social contexts. Oxytocin fibers (blue lines) originating from cell bodies (blue dots) in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) are present in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). Activation of oxytocin receptors in NAc and VTA promote the formation of place preferences for positive social contexts. Activation of oxytocin receptor in the VTA induces release of dopamine (black line) in to the NAc. Effects of oxytocin receptor in NAc on social place preferences in juvenile male mice have been found to require the coactivation of 5HT1B on serotonergic fibers originating from the dorsal raphe (DRN, purple line). Mouse drawing by N. Duque-Wilckens.