DOPAMINE REGULATION OF SOCIAL ATTACHMENT

社会依恋的神经生物学仍然是一个相对未被研究的领域，应该证明与精神病学，心理学和发展心理生物学有关。 最近的研究与一夫一妻制的啮齿动物，草原田鼠（Microtus ochrogaster），提供了一个可靠的行为指标的定量研究的社会依恋。 草原田鼠在交配后表现出持续的伴侣偏好（对配偶的偏好高于对同种陌生人的偏好）。 以前的研究已经证明了这种对配对的偏好的重要性以及催产素在这个过程中的作用。 此外，与多巴胺对奖励和学习的影响一致，我们最近证明了D2受体拮抗剂阻断交配诱导的伴侣偏好，而D2激动剂在没有交配的情况下促进偏好形成。 在本申请中，我们提出了四个研究，系统地调查交配，多巴胺和社会依恋之间的关系。 在第一项研究中，我们将确定特定的大脑区域的关键多巴胺调节合作伙伴的偏好在草原田鼠。我们还将研究局部多巴胺在调节山地田鼠的社会行为中所起的作用（M。montanus），一种混杂的物种，交配后不形成配对，但在许多非社会行为上类似于草原田鼠。 在第二项研究中，我们将比较两种田鼠的区域多巴胺能标记物。 在第三项研究中，我们将调查交配是否会影响多巴胺的释放差异，在这两个物种。 最后，我们将研究多巴胺和催产素在伴侣偏好调节中的相互作用。 总之，这些研究应该提供一个全面的了解多巴胺能通路的作用，在社会依恋的生理过程。 通过采用比较的方法，这些研究可能不仅揭示了交配和多巴胺促进社会依恋的近似机制，而且还表明了一个特定的单胺能系统是如何适应密切相关的物种中完全不同的行为功能的。

The neurobiology of social attachment remains a relatively uninvestigated area that should prove relevant to psychiatry, psychology, and developmental psychobiology. Recent studies with a monogamous rodent, the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), have provided a reliable behavioral index for quantitative studies of social attachment. Prairie voles exhibit a sustained partner preference (preference for a mate versus a conspecific stranger) after mating. Previous research has demonstrated the importance of this preference for pair bonding and the role of oxytocin in this process. In addition, consistent with dopamine's effects on reward and learning, we have recently demonstrated that a D2 receptor antagonist blocks mating-induced partner preferences whereas a D2 agonist facilitates preference formation in the absence of mating. In the present application, we propose four studies to systematically investigate the relationship between mating, dopamine, and social attachment. In a first study, we will identify the specific brain areas critical for dopamine regulation of partner preferences in prairie voles. We will also examine the role, if any, that regional dopamine plays in the regulation of social behavior in montane voles (M. montanus), a promiscuous species that does not form pair bonds after mating but resembles the prairie vole in many non-social behaviors. In a second study, we will compare the two species of voles in their regional dopaminergic markers. In a third study, we will investigate whether mating affects dopamine release differentially in the two species. Finally, we will study the interaction between dopamine and oxytocin in the regulation of partner preferences. Together, these studies should provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of dopaminergic pathways in the physiological process of social attachment. By adopting a comparative approach, these studies may not only reveal a proximate mechanism by which mating and dopamine facilitate social attachment but also suggest how a specific monoaminergic system has been adapted for quite different behavioral functions in closely related species.