a Schematics of the PVT location targeted by drug infusion. b Effects of intra-PVT OT (0.5 and 1.0 μg) infusion on breakpoints and reward earned in male mice (n = 13). One-way ANOVA repeated measures followed by Bonferroni post hoc tests for multiple comparisons. 0.5 and 1.0 μg OT vs. saline infusion: **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. c Effects of intra-PVT OT (1.0 μg) on breakpoints and reward earned in both male (n = 20) and female (n = 12) mice. Two-way ANOVA repeated measures followed by Bonferroni post hoc tests for multiple comparisons. OT vs. saline infusion: **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. d Effects of OT (1.0 μg) infusion on breakpoints and reward earned in the absence (n = 13 male mice) and presence (n = 13 male mice) of OT receptor antagonist Ato (1.0 μg). Two-way ANOVA repeated measures followed by Bonferroni post hoc tests for multiple comparisons. OT vs. saline infusion in the absence and presence of Ato: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; OT plus Ato vs. OT infusion: #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01.