OXYTOCIN AND SOCIAL ATTACHMENT

尽管相当多的研究都集中在神经 社会分离的根源，人们对此知之甚少 这个 社会依恋的神经生物学。这项提案的重点是 一夫一妻制 啮齿动物，草原田鼠(Microtus Ochrogaster)，它是 显赫 通过形成选择性的、持久的社会依恋或配对 债券。 多条证据表明中枢催产素(OT)途径 在……里面 草原田鼠结对结对。加班和选择性加班 拮抗剂降低雌性草原交配诱导的配对结合 田鼠 以伴侣喜好的发展来衡量。我们建议 四 新的研究来探索OT促进的机制 社交 依恋。第一项研究扩展了早期关于这一重要性的工作 的 草原田鼠配对效果的研究 的 在草原田鼠大脑的OT路径上交配。这项实验 将要 比较一夫一妻制草原田鼠与非一夫一妻制山地田鼠 (M。 Montanus)，表现出类似的交配行为模式，但失败了 至 形成持久的、有选择性的社交依恋。第二项研究将 利用OT扩展阻止配对绑定的早期结果 通过使用部位特异性注射OT拮抗剂来对抗 将对社会依恋至关重要的途径本地化 一夫一妻制 草原田鼠。第三项研究将探讨认知机制。 通过 哪种OT有助于合作伙伴偏好的形成，包括 的研究 记忆、新恐惧症和强化。最后，第四项研究 探索 卵巢癌OT受体表达差异的分子机制 使用转基因方法的一夫一妻制和非一夫一妻制的田鼠。 已被占用 总而言之，这些研究应该提供一个全面的 了解 中枢催产素通路在社会转型过程中的作用 依恋。通过 采用比较的方法，这些研究可能不仅揭示 一个 交配和OT促进配对结合的最接近的机制， 但 也表明了特定的神经内分泌系统是如何适应的 为 在亲缘关系密切的物种中行为功能截然不同。 这个 这项工作的最终目标是提供对 这个 依恋的神经生物学，希望这一知识将 通知 临床疾病的治疗方法，其特征是 依恋， 包括自闭症和精神分裂症。

Although a considerable body of research has focused on the neural substrates of social separation, relatively little is known about the neurobiology of social attachment. This proposal focuses on a monogamous rodent, the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), which is distinguished by the formation of selective, enduring social attachments or pair bonds. Several lines of evidence implicate central oxytocin (OT) pathways in prairie vole pair bond formation. OT increases and a selective OT antagonist decreases mating-induced pair bonding in female prairie voles as measured by the development of a partner preference. We propose four new studies to investigate the mechanisms by which OT facilitates social attachment. The first study extends earlier work on the importance of mating for prairie vole pair bonding by investigating the effects of mating on OT pathways in the prairie vole brain. This experiment will compare monogamous prairie voles with non-monogamous montane voles (M. montanus), which show similar patterns of mating behavior but fail to form enduring, selective social attachments. The second study will extend earlier results of the blockade of pair bonding with an OT antagonist by using site-specific injections of an OT antagonist to localize the pathways critical for social attachment in the monogamous prairie vole. A third study will investigate cognitive mechanisms by which OT facilitates partner preference formation, including studies of memory, neophobia, and reinforcement. Finally, a fourth study explores molecular mechanisms for differences in OT receptor expression in monogamous and non-monogamous voles, using a transgenic approach. Taken together, these studies should provide a comprehensive understanding of the role of central OT pathways in the process of social attachment. By adopting a comparative approach, these studies may reveal not only a proximate mechanism by which mating and OT facilitate pair bonding, but also suggest how a specific neuroendocrine system has been adapted for quite different behavioral functions in closely related species. The ultimate goal of this work is to provide a basic understanding of the neurobiology of attachment with the hope that this knowledge will inform approaches to clinical disorders characterized by deficits in attachment, including autism and schizophrenia.