Neuropeptides and the evolution of social behavior

Social amnesia in mice lacking the oxytocin gene

Ferguson, J. N., Young, L. J., Hearn, E. F., Matzuk, M. M., Insel, T. R., & Winslow, J. T. (2000) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/77040 · Cited by 1,130

A role for central vasopressin in pair bonding in monogamous prairie voles

Winslow, J. T., Hastings, N., Carter, C. S., Harbaugh, C. R., & Insel, T. R. (1993) · Nature · doi:10.1038/365545a0 · Cited by 948

Oxytocin receptor distribution reflects social organization in monogamous and polygamous voles

Insel, T. R., & Shapiro, L. E. (1992) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.89.13.5981 · Cited by 833

Natural Variation in a Neuropeptide Y Receptor Homolog Modifies Social Behavior and Food Response in C. elegans

de Bono, M., & Bargmann, C. I. (1998) · Cell · doi:10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81609-8 · Cited by 819

Oxytocin induces maternal behavior in virgin female rats

Pedersen, C. A., Ascher, J. A., Monroe, Y. L., & Prange, A. J. (1982) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.7071605 · Cited by 770

The effects of oxytocin and vasopressin on partner preferences in male and female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

Cho, M. M., DeVries, A. C., Williams, J. R., & Carter, C. S. (1999) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/0735-7044.113.5.1071 · Cited by 529

A gender-specific mechanism for pair bonding: oxytocin and partner preference formation in monogamous voles

Insel, T. R., & Hulihan, T. J. (1995) · Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/0735-7044.109.4.782 · Cited by 528

Increased affiliative response to vasopressin in mice expressing the V1a receptor from a monogamous vole

Young, L. J., Nilsen, R., Waymire, K. G., MacGregor, G. R., & Insel, T. R. (1999) · Nature · doi:10.1038/23475 · Cited by 488

Development of partner preferences in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster): The role of social and sexual experience

WILLIAMS, J. (1992) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/0018-506x(92)90004-f · Cited by 471

Ontogeny of the vasopressinergic neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and their extrahypothalamic projections in the rat brain–presence of a sex difference in the lateral septum

De Vries, G. J., Buds, R. M., & Swaab, D. F. (1981) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/0006-8993(81)90989-6 · Cited by 319

Profiling the neuroproteomics of honeybee brain: A clue for understanding the role of neuropeptides in the modulation of aggressivity

Paula, G. M., Menegasso, A. R. D. S., dos Santos‐Pinto, J. R. A., Malaspina, O., & Palma, M. S. (2024) · Journal of Proteomics · doi:10.1016/j.jprot.2024.105089 · Cited by 6

Neuroeconomics

Platt, M. L., Watson, K. K., Hayden, B. Y., Shepherd, S. V., & Klein, J. T. (2010) · Frontiers in neuroscience · doi:10.1201/9781420007350-c6 · Cited by 5

Psychopharmacology and ethnicity: A comparative study on Senegalese and Italian men

Marazziti, D., Stahl, S. M., Simoncini, M., Baroni, S., Mucci, F., Palego, L., Betti, L., Massimetti, G., Giannaccini, G., & Dell’Osso, L. (2019) · The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/15622975.2019.1583373 · Cited by 4

Genomics for conservation: a case study of behavioral genes in the Tasmanian devil

Silver, L. W., Hogg, C. J., Wright, B. R., & Grueber, C. E. (2021) · Conservation Genetics · doi:10.1007/s10592-021-01354-1 · Cited by 4

Arginine vasotocin affects motivation to call, but not calling plasticity, in Cope’s gray treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis

Clapp, N., & Reichert, M. S. (2021) · Journal of Comparative Physiology B · doi:10.1007/s00360-021-01399-1 · Cited by 4

An evolutionary Ockham's razor to reciprocity

Berra, I. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01258 · Cited by 4

Mutagenesis and Knockout Models: Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical System

Keck, M. E., & Müller, M. B. (2005) · Handbook of experimental pharmacology · doi:10.1007/3-540-28082-0_4 · Cited by 4

Social Neuroscience and the Modern Synthesis of Social and Biological Levels of Analysis

Norman, G. J., Hawkley, L. C., Luhmann, M., Cacioppo, J. T., & Berntson, G. G. (2012) · Handbooks of sociology and social research · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4473-8_6 · Cited by 4

Oxytocin homogenizes horse group organization

Brooks, J., Maeda, T., Ringhofer, M., & Yamamoto, S. (2024) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.110356 · Cited by 5

Testing a Neuro-Evolutionary Theory of Social Bonds and Addiction: Methadone Associated With Lower Attachment Anxiety, Comfort With Closeness, and Proximity Maintenance

Torres, N. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00602 · Cited by 3

The father(to)child affiliative bond: Convergent evolution with the canid analogue

Mackey, W. C., & Immerman, R. S. (2003) · Biodemography and Social Biology · doi:10.1080/19485565.2003.9989064 · Cited by 3

The Little Known Universe of Short Proteins in Insects: A Machine Learning Approach

Ofer, D., Rappoport, N., & Linial, M. (2015) · Entomology in focus · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24235-4_8 · Cited by 3

Social Interaction Elicits Activity in Glutamatergic Neurons in the Posterior Intralaminar Complex of the ThalamusPreprint

Leithead, A. B., Godino, A., Barbier, M., & Harony‐Nicolas, H. (2023) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2023.04.24.538114 · Cited by 3

Egalitarian cooperation linked to central oxytocin levels in communal breeding house mice

Fischer, S., Duffield, C., Swaney, W. T., Bolton, R. L., Davidson, A. J., Hurst, J. L., & Stockley, P. (2024) · Communications Biology · doi:10.1038/s42003-024-06922-y · Cited by 2

Seasonal expression of arginine vasotocin mRNA and its correlations to gonadal steroidogenic enzymes and sexually dimorphic coloration during sex reversal in the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata)

Reyes-Tomassini, J. J., Wong, T., & Zohar, Y. (2017) · Fish Physiology and Biochemistry · doi:10.1007/s10695-017-0338-3 · Cited by 2

Beyond Sex Differences: Genes, Brains and Matrilineal Evolution

Keverne, E. B. (2017) · Cited by 2

Machine Learning for Protein FunctionPreprint

Ofer, D. (2016) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1603.02021 · Cited by 2

Empathy, stress and biopsychological homeostasis. Hormonal-loop disorders theoryPreprint

Naumov, D. (2022) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/qyra3 · Cited by 2

Transcriptional Regulation of Neuropeptide Receptors Decodes Complexity of Peptidergic Modulation of Behavior and PhysiologyPreprint

Ryu, S., Wei, Y., Wu, Z., Lee, D., & Kim, W. J. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.11.23.624967 · Cited by 2

Neuropeptides: Mental Disease

Holsboer, F. (2009) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-008045046-9.01461-3 · Cited by 2

Urban and Rural Male Song Sparrows (Melospiza Melodia) Differ in Territorial Aggression and Activation of Vasotocin Neurons in Response to Song Challenge

Sewall, K. B., Beck, M. L., Lane, S. J., & Davies, S. (2023) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105438 · Cited by 2

Losing a parent in early‐life impairs flock size discrimination and lowers oxytocin receptor abundance in a medial amygdala homologue of adult zebra finches

Emmerson, M. G. (2022) · Developmental Psychobiology · doi:10.1002/dev.22307 · Cited by 1

The Emergence of Animal Social Complexity: theoretical and biobehavioral evidencePreprint

Alicea, B. (2013) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1309.7990 · Cited by 1

A neurobehavioural analysis of social behaviour and learning in fish and mammals

Lindeijer, C. M. (2008) · Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) · Cited by 1

Mechanisms of space use in the wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus

Godsall, B. (2015) · Spiral (Imperial College London) · doi:10.25560/25280 · Cited by 1

The role of mesotocin on social bonding in pinyon jaysPreprint

Duque, J. F., Rasmussen, T., Rodriguez, A., & Stevens, J. R. (2019) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/599555 · Cited by 1

Wissenschaftliche Grundlagen betrieblicher Gesundheitspolitik

Badura, B., Walter, U., & Hehlmann, T. (2010) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-04337-6_5 · Cited by 1

Allelic variation in the oxytocin receptor gene and early-emerging social behaviors in boys and girls

Salovaara, H. (2014) · Tampere University Institutional Repository (Tampere University) · Cited by 1

Więzi międzyosobnicze, miłość, empatia, altruizm: neurobiologiczne korzenie dobra

Godzińska, E. J. (2007) · Cited by 1

Proximate Causation: Functional Traits and the Ubiquity of Signaler to Receiver Interactions: From Biochemical to Whole Organism Levels of Mammalian Social Organization

Jones, C. B. (2014) · SpringerBriefs in ecology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-03931-2_9

Characterization and comparison of the arginine vasotocin (AVT) neurons in the brain of phylogenetically close wrasses, with different levels of cooperative behaviour

de Mendonça, A. R. M. (2012) · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT)

Evolution of Molecular Function in Mammalian Neurons

Francis, C. (2011) · ScholarlyCommons (University of Pennsylvania)

Psychotherapy

Fenton, L., & Feinstein, R. E. (2013) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139016919.038

Hormone Effects on Behavior

Litvin, Y., & Pfaff, D. W. (2015) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6434-1_59-3

INFLUÊNCIA DAS VARIAÇÕES DE CUIDADO MATERNO NA REATIVIDADE AO ESTRESSE DE RATOS NO PERÍODO NEONATAL

Henriques, T. P. (2009) · Americanae (AECID Library)

Human Spirituality and Coming Together in Peace, Looking Through Two Lenses (Māori and Sahaj Marg Raja Yoga).

Joyce, J. (2014) · Otago University Research Archive (University of Otago)

Human Evolution and the

Sayers, K., Raghanti, M. A., & Lovejoy, C. O. (2012)

Genomic Rearrangements in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Identification of Novel Candidate Genes

Malenfant, P. (2009) · QSpace (Queen's University Library)

Behavioral and neuroanatomical substrates contributing to motivation in the postpartum female rat

Seip, K. M. (2009) · Rutgers University Community Repository (Rutgers University) · doi:10.7282/t38w3dhc

Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying sexual arousal

Mong, J. A., Lee, A., Easton, A. E., & Pfaff, D. W. (2005) · CRC Press eBooks · doi:10.1201/b14618-22

Hormonal Mechanisms Regulating Alternate Phenotypes.

Semsar, K. (2003) · NCSU Libraries Repository (North Carolina State University Libraries)

Contributions of family social structure to the development of ultrasociality in humans

Nephew, B. C., & Pittet, F. (2016) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x15000990

Pair bonding, the preferred mating tactic of Microtus ochrogaster, induces changes in expression of aggression and social cognition, but not receptor distribution

Blocker, T. D. (2016) · SHAREOK (University of Oklahoma; Oklahoma State University; Central Oklahoma University)

Mother–Infant Bonding: The Biological Foundations for Social Life and Cultures

Keverne, E. B. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108242080.006

História Natural e comportamento social de bugios-ruivos (Alouatta clamitans, Primates: Atelidae) em um dos maiores fragmentos de Mata Atlântica do mundo

de Oliveira, G. B. S. (2020) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/t.10.2020.tde-25062021-170455

Oxytocin Increases Prosocial Behavior in Groups of African LionsPreprint

Burkhart, J. C., Gupta, S., Borrego, N., Heilbronner, S. R., & Packer, C. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3919952

Further Reading

(2004) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-012553149-8/50049-1

Elterliche Fürsorge

(2008) · Springer-Lehrbuch · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-68792-4_10

Elterliche Fürsorge

(2006) · Springer-Lehrbuch · doi:10.1007/3-540-29977-7_10

Hormone Effects on Behavior

Litvin, Y., & Pfaff, D. W. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-1997-6_59

Further Reading

(2018) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-802629-8.16001-2

Andrew Howard Bass

Remage‐Healey, L. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-12970-4_40

The Chemistry of Attachment

(2016) · Royal Society of Chemistry eBooks · doi:10.1039/bk9781782621348-00198

Comparative study on the social and reproductive behavior of the mound building and the house mice

Groó, Z. (2022) · Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem · doi:10.15476/elte.2020.210

A Review on the Neuroanatomy of Bee Brain and Social Behavior

Nongkhlaw, R. (2023) · Current Indian Science · doi:10.2174/012210299x266380231206072655

How does one synthetically produce love?

Tapio, H. (2025) · Technoetic Arts · doi:10.1386/tear_00142_1

Neuroendocrine signatures of urban aggression: Arginine vasotocin (AVT) receptor distribution and expression in male song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) brain

Fossett, T. E., Lane, S. J., VanDiest, I. J., Kaul, S., Gilbert, E. R., & Sewall, K. B. (2026) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2026.105963

Species-specific behavioural responses to peripheral arginine vasopressin in two African striped mice (genus Rhabdomys)

Neves, C. N., Rymer, T. L., Hartman, K.-J., & Pillay, N. (2025) · Behavioural Processes · doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105284

Can Oxytocin function as an antidepressant?

Wynberg, H. (2010) · Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University)

I’ve got a friend somewhere: control of social behavior across striatal subregions

Li, M. X., Baek, J., Guo, M. Y., Pomrenze, M. B., & Chen, A. P. F. (2026) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2026.1763517

A hemoglobin-derived peptide, VD-hemopressin, activates hypothalamic oxytocin neurons and promotes social approach behavior in mice

Tanaka, K., Takahashi, K., Hidaka, C., Osako, Y., & Nakane, H. (2026) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2026.03.047

Conception, synthesis and evaluation of fluorescent probes and PET radioligands for the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors

Karpenko, J. (2014) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/af62f018z7c1az4348z932dzfbd90558bb78

Dimorphic substrates, monomorphic outcomes: Social behavior neural circuit tuning in social monogamy

Shvareva, V. A., Berendzen, K. M., Bender, K. J., & Manoli, D. S. (2026) · Progress in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2026.102948 · Cited by 1

Beating the boojum: Comparative approaches to the neurobiology of social behavior

Phelps, S. M., Polly Campbell, A., Zheng, D., & Ophir, A. G. (2009) · Neuropharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2009.06.043 · Cited by 73

Social creatures: Model animal systems for studying the neuroendocrine mechanisms of social behaviour

Robinson, K. J., Bosch, O. J., Levkowitz, G., Busch, K. E., Jarman, A. P., & Ludwig, M. (2019) · Journal of Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1111/jne.12807 · Cited by 36

Deconstructing sociality, social evolution and relevant nonapeptide functions

Goodson, J. L. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.12.005 · Cited by 206

Neuropeptide Systems and Social Behavior: Noncoding Repeats as a Genetic Mechanism for Rapid Evolution of Social Behavior

Hammock, E. A. D., & Young, L. J. (2007) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b0-12-370878-8/00091-4 · Cited by 1

Oxytocin, vasopressin, and the neurogenetics of sociality

Donaldson, Z. R., & Young, L. J. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1158668 · Cited by 1,645