Publications by authors named "Kazutaka Mogi"

Emotional contagion occurs in many animals, including rodents. To determine the social signals of emotional state-matching between individuals in mice, we conducted an empirical laboratory experiment using visual, olfactory and auditory stimuli. The Japanese wild-derived mouse strain MSM/Ms (MSM) was tested as observers, since our initial experiments indicated that MSM mice showed higher sensitivity to others' pain compared with the laboratory strain C57BL/6J (B6).

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  • Copy number variants (CNVs) are linked to psychiatric disorders and brain structure changes, but the specific gene effects within the CNV regions, like 22q11.2, are still unclear.
  • This study focuses on Tbx1, a gene in the 22q11.2 region, exploring how it influences brain volume and behaviors through a detailed analysis of Tbx1 heterozygous mice using magnetic resonance imaging.
  • Results showed decreased volumes in key brain areas associated with social behavior and learning, while some auditory regions were larger, highlighting the nuanced impacts of Tbx1 on brain structure and function.
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  • The study investigates the role of oxytocin in emotional contagion and how it affects fear-related behaviors in mice with different oxytocin receptor expressions.* -
  • In experiments, wild-type mice exhibited vicarious freezing when observing others in fear, while mice with reduced or absent oxytocin receptors showed less of this behavior.* -
  • The findings suggest that oxytocin is important for recognizing others' emotions and responding to them, but does not affect fear responses in non-social contexts.*
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  • - Early weaning (EW) in mice leads to increased anxiety and stress responses in adulthood, affecting both behavior and immune function.
  • - Mice subjected to EW showed significant differences in behavior tests compared to normally weaned (NW) mice, along with notable changes in their gut microbiome composition, specifically reduced Erysipelotrichaceae.
  • - Germ-free mice colonized with gut microbiota from EW mice exhibited higher depressive behaviors and altered immune cell profiles, indicating that changes in gut microbiota due to EW can influence mood and immunity.
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Changes in the mother-offspring relationship are presumably accompanied by dynamic changes in the autonomic nervous system. Although temporal measurements of autonomic activity have been performed in human mothers and infants, the analysis of long-term changes remains unexplored. Mouse mothers can form social bonds with their pups and have a short period of pregnancy and lactation, which makes them useful for the examination of physiological changes from pregnancy to pup-rearing.

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This study investigated the relationship between urinary hormone concentrations and attachment-related behaviors in two dog breeds, the Akitas and Labrador Retrievers, to elucidate the hormonal and behavioral mechanisms underlying domestication and interspecies attachment to humans. By measuring cortisol and oxytocin concentrations, and conducting the Strange Situation Test (SST), we aimed to investigate breed differences in endocrine secretions associated with domestication and how these differences influence dog behavior toward humans. Our results showed significant breed differences in urinary cortisol concentrations, with Akitas exhibiting higher levels than Labrador Retrievers.

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The number of mothers suffering from mental illness is increasing steadily, particularly under conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. The identification of factors that contribute to resilience in mothers is urgently needed to decrease the risks of poor physical and psychological health. We focused on the risk of parenting stress and psychological resilience in healthy mothers with no psychiatric and physical disorders and conducted two studies to examine the relationships between intestinal microbiota, physical condition, and psychological state.

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The matrilineal transmission of maternal behavior has been reported in several species. Studies, primarily on rats, have suggested the importance of postnatal experience and the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in mediating these transmissions. This study aims to determine whether the matrilineal transmission of maternal behavior occurs in mice and whether the microbiota is involved.

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  • Mice form social groups for survival, and understanding their interactions is key to studying group behavior, specifically huddling, which hasn't been analyzed in-depth.
  • This study introduces a cost-effective method using OpenCV for long-term monitoring of huddling behavior by representing mice as 'blobs' in video frames, significantly reducing data storage needs.
  • The algorithm showed over 90% accuracy when compared to manual cluster counting, and initial findings hint at gender differences in huddling, paving the way for further research into group behavior in neuropsychiatric disorders.
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  • Copy number variants (CNVs), especially those in the 22q11.2 region, are linked to psychiatric disorders and brain structure changes, but the exact relationship between specific genes and these issues isn't fully understood.
  • This study focuses on a gene within the 22q11.2 CNV, suggesting it plays a significant role in social interaction, memory, and cognitive flexibility.
  • Using brain imaging in mice with this genetic variant, researchers found reduced volumes in certain brain areas and linked these changes to difficulties in social interactions, highlighting the impact of genetic loss-of-function variants.
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Copy number variants (CNVs) are robustly associated with psychiatric disorders and their dimensions and changes in brain structures and behavior. However, as CNVs contain many genes, the precise gene-phenotype relationship remains unclear. Although various volumetric alterations in the brains of 22q11.

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  • The study compares the bond between dogs and humans to the attachment between mothers and infants, focusing on how dogs' attachment behaviors affect their owners.
  • Researchers assessed heart rate variability in both dogs and owners during a specific test to see if eye contact from dogs decreased the owner's parasympathetic activity, indicating a stress response.
  • Results showed that dogs had lower parasympathetic activity when gazing at their owners compared to strangers, but the study did not confirm if this gaze impacted humans' autonomic activity as a sign of attachment.
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Previous studies have demonstrated that paternal caregiving behaviors are reliant on neural pathways similar to those supporting maternal care. Interestingly, a greater variability exists in parental phenotypes in men than in women among individuals and mammalian species. However, less is known about when or how such variability emerges in men.

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Sensory signals are critical to perform adaptive social behavior. During copulation, male mice emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). Our previous studies have shown that female mice exhibit approach behavior toward sound sources of male USVs and that, after being exposed to a male pheromone, exocrine gland-secreting peptide 1 (ESP1), female mice exhibited a preference toward a particular type of male USVs.

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In humans, tear volume increases during emotional arousal. To our knowledge, no previous studies have investigated the relationship between emotional arousal and tear volume in animals. We performed the Schirmer tear test (STT) and measured tear volume in dogs before and after reunions with owners and familiar non-owners.

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The dog (Canis familiaris) was the first domesticated animal and hundreds of breeds exist today. During domestication, dogs experienced strong selection for temperament, behaviour, and cognitive ability. However, the genetic basis of these abilities is not well-understood.

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Mesotocin (MT) is an avian homologue of oxytocin (OT). Behavioral pharmacological studies in birds have suggested the involvement of MT in socially affiliative behavior. However, investigations of peripheral MT levels associated with social behavior are lacking because non-invasive methods to measure surrogate plasma MT have yet to be established.

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Introduction: Perinatal women often experience mood disorders and postpartum depression due to the physical load and the rapid changes in hormone levels caused by pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing. When the mother's emotions become unstable, their parental behavior (maternal behavior) may decline, the child's attachment may weaken, and the formation of mother-child bonding can become hindered. As a result, the growth of the child may be adversely affected.

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A prolonged stress hyporesponsive period (SHRP) due to the mother's presence may delay the timing of glucocorticoid (GC) elevation in infants, thereby reducing the excessive stress response that would affect post-growth temperament. In dogs, the SHRP has been suggested to persist until postnatal week (PW) 4; therefore, PW 5, which SHRP may be prolonged by the mother dog, may be a critical point in the developmental stage of dogs to establish stress responsiveness. We conducted a long-term survey on the development of dogs to investigate i) whether the degree of the stress response at PW 5 is determined by maternal behavior and ii) whether it can predict post-growth stress responses and temperament in dogs.

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The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has fascinated zoologists for at least half a century. It has also generated considerable biomedical interest not only because of its extraordinary longevity, but also because of unusual protective features (e.g.

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Maternal care, including by non-biological parents, is important for offspring survival. Oxytocin, which is released by the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), is a critical maternal hormone. In mice, oxytocin enables neuroplasticity in the auditory cortex for maternal recognition of pup distress.

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Testosterone masculinizes male sexual behavior through an organizational and activational effects. We previously reported that the emission of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in male mice was dependent on the organizational effects of testosterone; females treated with testosterone in the perinatal and peripubertal periods, but not in adults, had increased USV emissions compared to males. Recently, it was revealed that male USVs have various acoustic characteristics and these variations were related to behavioral interactions with other mice.

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In mice, early exposure to environmental odors affects social behaviors later in life. A signaling molecule, Semaphorin 7A (Sema7A), is induced in the odor-responding olfactory sensory neurons. Plexin C1 (PlxnC1), a receptor for Sema7A, is expressed in mitral/tufted cells, whose dendrite-localization is restricted to the first week after birth.

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  • The study investigates how the brain networks of first-time expectant fathers respond to infant-related stimuli compared to childless males, focusing on neural activation patterns.
  • Using functional MRI, researchers found initial changes in the left anterior insula and inferior frontal gyrus of expectant fathers during their partners' early pregnancy, suggesting early brain adaptation to impending parenthood.
  • These changes were linked to paternal traits, indicating that external factors—like attitudes toward parenting—may play a role in shaping the paternal brain during early stages of pregnancy.
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Testosterone masculinizes male sexual behavior by providing organizational and activational effects during the perinatal and peripubertal periods and during adulthood, respectively. We revealed that the emission of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) and mounting behavior was regulated by different neural circuits. However, the detailed testosterone effects on these two behaviors have not been fully elucidated.

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