PROLACTIN LEVELS PREDICT RELATIONSHIP QUALITY

该子项目是利用NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为中心，不一定是研究者所在机构。评估催乳素是否在父母-子女关系中起重要作用，在配偶关系中也起重要作用。 催乳素是哺乳动物成功哺乳所必需的，也调节母性行为。在某些双亲鸟类和哺乳动物中，父亲的催乳素水平升高，有一些证据表明催乳素可能对婴儿的高质量男性护理很重要。因此，催乳素通常被认为是一种“亲代”激素。是否有其他情况下，催乳素升高可能是重要的？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也很重要。我们研究了催乳素在成对雌性棉顶绢毛猴中的作用，发现催乳素水平与亲和行为（拥挤、梳理）、性行为和攻击性之间存在显着的正相关性。与配偶进行更多社会互动的女性有更高的催乳素水平。这项研究的重复研究对男女都进行了研究，发现男性和女性的结果相似。我们复制了这两项研究，通过给予卡麦角林（一种多巴胺激动剂，可降低催乳素水平）来检查亲密关系与催乳素之间的因果关系。卡麦角林没有改变亲和行为，但同时对照条件没有重复我们以前的研究与催乳素水平。然而，我们确实重复了这一发现，即不同对之间的关系质量存在很大差异。我们正在探索是否其他激素与关系，如加压素和催产素将涉及关系质量。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.