- Previous studies on the role of oxytocin in social bonding used drugs to block the oxytocin receptor, but researchers have now used genetic technology to generate prairie voles that lack functional oxytocin receptors.
- Surprisingly, these mutant prairie voles still displayed the behavioral traits thought to be dependent on oxytocin, namely pair bonding and parental care.
- A better understanding of the role of oxytocin in social attachments is required, but the researchers believe that their new genetic model will facilitate future research.
Oxytocin is a hormone produced by the brain. For more than 30 years, research has indicated that oxytocin is involved in the
Animal model studies have shown that the binding of oxytocin molecules to specific receptors in the brain, called “oxytocin receptor signaling,” drives pair-bonding behavior — the formation of strong relationships between monogamous partners.
Oxytocin receptor signaling is also thought to control
Now, new research from the University of California and Stanford University is challenging these long-accepted beliefs.
Dr. Devanand Manoli, senior author of the study and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, notes that he and his team “were all shocked that no matter how many different ways we tried to test this, the voles demonstrated a very robust social attachment with their sexual partner, as strong as their normal counterparts.”
The results of their study appear in the journal
Researchers studying the role of oxytocin in social bonding have often used prairie voles in their studies because these rodents are known to be monogamous.
Partner voles spend time nestled closely together and show a distinct preference for each other over other potential…
Read the full article here