PROLACTIN LEVELS PREDICT RELATIONSHIP QUALITY

这个子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和调查员(PI)可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可能会出现在其他CRISE条目中。列出的机构是针对中心的，而不一定是针对调查员的机构。为了评估通常被认为在亲子关系中重要的催乳素是否在配偶之间的关系中也很重要。催乳素是哺乳动物成功哺乳所必需的，也是调节母体行为的物质。在一些鸟类和哺乳动物的双亲物种中，父亲的催乳素水平较高，有一些证据表明，催乳素可能对高质量的男性照顾婴儿很重要。因此，催乳素通常被认为是一种“双亲”荷尔蒙。还有没有其他情况下催乳素升高可能很重要？父母的照顾代表了一种社会关系，因此，催乳素在其他社会关系中可能是重要的。我们研究了催乳素在配对的雌性棉顶罗望子中的作用，发现催乳素水平与附属行为(抱抱、新郎)、性行为和攻击性显著正相关。与配偶进行更多社交活动的女性催乳素水平更高。这项研究的重复研究考察了两种性别，发现男性和女性的结果相似。我们重复了这两项研究，通过给予卡麦角林(一种降低催乳素水平的多巴胺激动剂)来检查从属关系和催乳素之间的因果关系。卡麦角林没有改变从属行为，但同时，对照条件也没有通过与催乳素水平的相关性来重复我们之前的研究。然而，我们确实重复了这一发现，即不同伴侣之间的关系质量存在很大差异。我们正在探索其他与关系有关的激素，如加压素和催产素是否会与关系质量有关。这项工作依赖于WNPRC分析服务和图书馆和信息服务。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. To assess whether prolactin, commonly thought to be important in parent-offspring relationships is also important in relationships between mates. Prolactin is necessary for successful nursing in mammals, and also regulates maternal behavior. In some biparental species of birds and mammals prolactin levels are elevated in fathers, and there is some evidence that prolactin may be important for quality male care of infants. Prolactin, thus, is often thought of as a "parental" hormone. Are there other conditions where elevated prolactin might be important? Parental care represents one type of social relationship, and prolactin might, therefore, be important in other social lationships. We have investigated the role of prolactin in paired female cotton-top tamarins and found significant positive correlations between prolactin levels and affiliative behavior (huddle, groom), sexual behavior and aggression. Females that were engaged in more social interactions with their mates had higher prolactin levels. A replication of this study looked at both sexes and found similar results for males and females. We replicated both of these studies to examine the causal relationship between affiliation and prolactin by administering cabergoline a dopamine agonist that reduces prolactin levels. Cabergoline did not alter affiliative behavior, but at the same time the control condition did not replicate our previous studies by correlating with prolactin levels. However, we did replicate the finding that there is great variation in relationship quality among different pairs. We are exploring whether other hormones associated with affiliation such as vasopressin and oxytocin will relate to realtionship quality. This work relied on the WNPRC Assay Services and Library and Information Services.