Cited by 529Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorAnimal Behavior and ReproductionOlfactory and Sensory Function Studies

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

Insel, Thomas R., Hulihan, Terrence J.·1995·Behavioral Neuroscience

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that central administration of vasopressin but not oxytocin facilitates pair bonding in the monogamous male prairie vole. This study tested vasopressin and oxytocin in the formation of the female vole's preference for a particular male partner. Initial studies showed that in monogamous female prairie voles (but not in nonmonogamous congeners), mating was followed by a partner preference that endured for at least 2 weeks. Nonmating prairie vole females developed a partner preference following oxytocin infusions, but not after vasopressin or cerebrospinal fluid infusions. Females given a selective oxytocin antagonist showed normal mating behavior, yet failed to develop a partner preference. The vasopressin antagonist failed to block partner preference formation in mated females. These results suggest that oxytocin, released with mating, may be critical to formation of a partner preference in the female prairie vole; this contrasts to vasopressin, which appears to be more important for pair bonding in the male of this species.

Verifying this paper

8 of 9 steps done · this page updates itself — you can leave and come back

  1. Registry recordVerified
  2. Full textFetching the open-access text — a few minutes for a paper we haven’t read before
  3. Reference listNo reference list published for this paper
  4. Reference check2 of 2 references checked
  5. StatisticsNeeds the full text
  6. ClaimsNeeds the full text
  7. Cited sourcesNeeds claims to check
  8. Self-checkNeeds the full text
  9. VerificationFindings verified

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1037/0735-7044.109.4.782

Cites

0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Sex differences in behavioral or brain responses were found after manipulations of the OXT brain system in voles and after intranasal OXT application in humans.

    “Sex differences in behavioral or brain responses were also found after manipulations of the OXT brain system in voles (Insel & Hulihan, 1995) and after intranasal OXT application in humans (Kubzansky et al., 2012; Lische et al., 2012).”

    From Sex-specific modulation of juvenile social play by vasopressin (2013) · cites this paper as Insel & Hulihan, 1995

  • Activation of D1-like dopamine receptors inhibits partner preference formation induced by either mating or by D2 activation.

    “Activation of D1-like DA receptors inhibits partner preference formation induced by either mating or by D2 activation [63, 64].”
  • Infusion of oxytocin into the brains of female prairie voles and vasopressin in males facilitated pair-bonding even in the absence of actual mating.

    “Infusion of oxytocin into the brains of female prairie voles and vasopressin in males, for instance, facilitated pair-bonding even in the absence of actual mating (Cho et al. 1999; Insel and Hulihan 1995; Williams et al. 1994; Winslow et al. 1993).”
  • The findings are consistent with those in other mammals, particularly monogamous rodent species where oxytocin plays a critical role in pair-bond formation.

    “These findings are consistent with those reported for other mammals, particularly monogamous rodent species in which OT has shown to play a critical role in the formation of pair-bonds (Cho et al., 1999; Insel and Hulihan, 1995; Williams et al., 1994).”
  • Sex-specific responses to AVP and OXT manipulations in rodents have been reported for behaviors other than juvenile social play, including aggression, partner preference, alloparental behavior, and social recognition.

    “Sex-specific responses to AVP and OXT manipulations in rodents have been reported for behaviors other than juvenile social play, including aggression (Ferris and Potegal, 1988; Gutzler et al., 2010), partner preference (Insel and Hulihan, 1995; Cho et al., 1999; Bales et al., 2013), alloparental behavior (Bales et al., 2004), and social recognition (Bluthé and Dantzer, 1990; Engelmann et al., 1998”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

The publisher hasn’t deposited this paper’s reference list.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Insel, T. R., & Hulihan, T. J.
Affiliations
National Institute of Mental Health (US)
Venue
Behavioral Neuroscience
Published
1995-08
Volume
109
Issue
4
Pages
782-789
ISSN
  • 0735-7044 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-0084
OpenAlex
W4236841827
Cited by
528
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 22
FWCI
17.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
Keywords
oxytocin, pair bonding, mate preferences, monogamy, voles, sexual monogamy, social bonding, sex differences
MeSH terms
Animals, Copulation, Arvicolinae, Female, Male, Oxytocin, Pair Bond, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sex Factors, Species Specificity, Vasopressins

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review