Epigenetics of social bonding in prairie voles

项目摘要 社交依恋是人类健康行为的重要组成部分，也是一种无法 这种依恋被认为是精神障碍的症状，如 反社会障碍、精神分裂症和自闭症。研究其作用机制 潜在的社会依恋需要一个能显示行为的动物模型 类似于人类的社会依恋。草原田鼠(Microtus Ochrogaster) 已经成为研究社会的神经生物学的一个重要模型 依恋。在野外，雄性和雌性草原田鼠形成长期的， 一夫一妻制的纽带，在整个繁殖季节共享一个巢。这样的一个 繁殖的一对通常保持在一起，直到其中一只动物死亡。鉴于这种交配 在草原田鼠身上诱导神经适应，最终导致结合，我们 建议在这里研究交配诱导的社会纽带是否 潜在的表观遗传学基础。我们的初步数据支持这一假设。

PROJECT ABSTRACT Social attachments are a vital part of healthy human behavior and an inability to form such attachments is regarded as a symptom of mental disorders such as anti-social disorders, schizophrenia and autism. Studying the mechanisms underlying social attachment requires an animal model that displays behaviors similar to that of human social attachment. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) have become an important model for the study of the neurobiology of social attachment. In the field, male and female prairie voles form long-term, monogamous bonds and share a nest throughout the breeding season. Such a breeding pair typically remains together until one animal dies. Given that mating in prairie voles induces neuroadaptations that eventually lead to bonding, we propose here to investigate whether mating induced social bonding has an underlying epigenetic basis. Our preliminary data support this hypothesis.