Synopsis: My lab studies the circuit mechanisms that enable oxytocin (OXT)-producing neurons in the vertebrate hypothalamus to control diverse behaviors. Working in larval zebrafish, we have found that OXT neuron activity elicited by noxious stimuli helps drive the acute, defensive response to physical threats through temporally sustained but spatially precise neuropeptide release within a brainstem premotor network. A parallel project demonstrates that OXT plays an evolutionarily conserved role in affiliative social behavior and socially-reinforced learning in the miniature fish, Danionella cerebrum. In this talk I'll discuss both those stories and their implications for an emerging picture of OXT's integrated physiological and behavioral roles.