Figure 2.

Oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) circuits that regulate social behavior. The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) contain OXT and AVP cell bodies that directly influence specific social behaviors: social recognition, social approach and reward, social communication, sexual behavior, parental behavior, and pair bonding and mate choice. A, PVN and BNST OXT circuits. B, PVN and BNST AVP circuits. Some contributions of AVP sources and sites of action are unknown, indicated by a short black arrow and “?”. All systems are not depicted for clarity.