PROLACTIN LEVELS PREDICT RELATIONSHIP QUALITY

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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.