Pair Bond Formation by Monogamous Prairie Voles in Novel Environments

• Published in: Kita Kantō igaku (The Kitakanto Medical Journal) Vol. 69; no. 2; pp. 129 - 133
• Main Authors: Arai, Aki, Hirota, Yu, Mitsui, Shinichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: The Kitakanto Medical Society 01.05.2019
• Subjects: monogamy; oxytocin; partner preference; vasopressin
• ISSN: 1343-2826; 1881-1191
• DOI: 10.2974/kmj.69.129

Background: Social bonds between spouses (pair bond) positively affect health conditions. Recently, we reported that the administration of serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitors to monogamous prairie voles ameliorated the impairment of pair bonding caused by traumatic stresses, suggesting the involvement of the serotonergic system in the formation of pair bonds in this model animal. Before investigating this possibility, we investigated the cohabitation condition which leads to a pair bond using our colony of prairie voles.Methods: Male prairie voles were cohabited with females for 96h in a control experiment. Otherwise, subject males were cohabited with an estradiol-primed females for 6 h or 24h. Subsequently, partner preferences by subject male prairie voles were assessed for 3 h.Results: All subjects in the 96 h cohabitation group preferred to huddle with their partner than stranger females. Twenty-four hour cohabitation induced partner preference; however a 6-h cohabitation did not, despite accompanying mating bouts.Conclusions: The formation of pair bonds by prairie voles requires 24 h of cohabitation. Mating bouts in a 6-h cohabitation appear to be insufficient for the formation of a pair bond. Such factors need to be considered when performing experiments using pharmacological methods that enhance or inhibit pair bonds.