MODULATION OF PAIR BONDING IN FEMALE PRAIRIE VOLES (MICROTUS-OCHROGASTER) BY CORTICOSTERONE
MODULATION OF PAIR BONDING IN FEMALE PRAIRIE VOLES (MICROTUS-OCHROGASTER) BY CORTICOSTERONE
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.92.17.7744
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发表时间：
1995-08-15
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
CARTER, CS
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
DEVRIES, AC;DEVRIES, MB;CARTER, CS
动物体内的糖皮质激素水平可能会对社会依恋的发展产生反应并影响其发展。这一假设在草原田鼠（Microtus ochrogaster）身上得到了检验，草原田鼠是一夫一妻制的啮齿动物，形成长期的异性配对关系。在社交幼稚的雌性草原田鼠中，与不熟悉的雄性同居会导致血清皮质酮水平急剧下降。当通过肾上腺切除术降低皮质酮水平时，雌性在同居1小时后就产生了伴侣偏好，而假手术和未经治疗的雌性则需要3小时或更长时间的非性同居才能建立伴侣偏好。在肾上腺切除且完整的雌性中，在社交暴露之前注射外源性皮质酮，可以阻止对同居雄性的偏好的发展。尽管皮质酮抑制了伴侣偏好的发展，但它并没有干扰先前建立的社会偏好的表达。这些结果表明，社会刺激可以调节肾上腺活动，而肾上腺活动反过来又能够影响雌性草原田鼠成年社会偏好的形成。肾上腺轴参与伴侣偏好的形成以及随后的配对关系的发展提供了一种机制，环境和社会因素可以通过该机制影响该物种的社会组织。
Glucocorticoid levels in animals may respond to and influence the development of social attachments. This hypothesis was tested in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), monogamous rodents that form long-term heterosexual pair bonds. In socially naive female prairie voles, cohabitation with an unfamiliar male resulted in a dramatic decline in serum corticosterone levels, When corticosterone levels were reduced via adrenalectomy, females developed partner preferences after 1 h of cohabitation, while sham-operated and untreated females required 3 h or more of nonsexual cohabitation to establish a partner preference. In adrenalectomized and intact females, exogenous injections of corticosterone, given prior to social exposure, prevented the development of preferences for the cohabitating male. Although corticosterone inhibited the development of partner preferences, it did not interfere with the expression of previously established social preferences. These results suggest that social stimuli can modulate adrenal activity and that adrenal activity, in turn, is capable of influencing the formation of adult social preferences in female prairie voles, The involvement of the adrenal axis in the formation of partner preferences and the subsequent development of pair bonds provides a mechanism through which environmental and social factors may influence social organization in this species.