Epigenetics of Social Bonding

描述（由申请人提供）：社会依恋是健康人类行为的重要组成部分，不能形成这种依恋被认为是精神分裂症和自闭症等精神障碍的症状。研究社会依恋的潜在机制需要一个动物模型，它表现出与人类社会依恋相似的行为。草原田鼠（Microtus ochrogaster）已成为社会依恋神经生物学研究的重要模型。在野外，雄性和雌性草原田鼠形成长期的关系，在整个繁殖季节共用一个巢穴。这样的交配对通常会一直在一起，直到其中一只动物死亡。对于草原田鼠来说，已经证明24小时的交配会可靠地导致伴侣偏好的形成，而在没有交配的情况下同居6小时不会诱导这种行为。考虑到草原田鼠的交配诱导神经适应，最终导致结合，我们在这里提出调查交配诱导的社会结合是否有潜在的表观遗传基础。我们的初步数据支持这一假设。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 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 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 bonds and share a nest throughout the breeding season. Such a breeding pair typically remains together until one animal dies. For prairie voles, it has been demonstrated that 24 h of mating reliably results in partner preference formation, whereas 6 h of cohabitation in the absence of mating does not induce this behavior. 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. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Prairie voles have become an important model for the study of the neurobiology of social attachment. Given that mating in prairie voles induces adaptations in specific brain regions that eventually lead to bonding, we propose in this proposal to investigate some of mechanisms that underlie the development of social bonding in prairie voles. Understanding the mechanisms of social bonding is very relevant to understanding some psychopathologies like autism and schizophrenia.