Dynamic corticostriatal activity biases social bonding in monogamous female prairie voles
Open accessAbstract
Adult pair bonding involves dramatic changes in the perception and valuation of another individual. One key change is that partners come to reliably activate the brain's reward system, although the precise neural mechanisms by which partners become rewarding during sociosexual interactions leading to a bond remain unclear. Here we show, using a prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) model of social bonding, how a functional circuit from the medial prefrontal cortex to nucleus accumbens is dynamically modulated to enhance females' affiliative behaviour towards a partner. Individual variation in the strength of this functional connectivity, particularly after the first mating encounter, predicts how quickly animals begin affiliative huddling with their partner. Rhythmically activating this circuit in a social context without mating biases later preference towards a partner, indicating that this circuit's activity is not just correlated with how quickly animals become affiliative but causally accelerates it. These results provide the first dynamic view of corticostriatal activity during bond formation, revealing how social interactions can recruit brain reward systems to drive changes in affiliative behaviour.
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Mating increases the functional connectivity between the mPFC and NAc of female prairie voles.
“Mating also increases the functional connectivity between the mPFC and NAc of female prairie voles [126].”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [126]
Mating strengthens functional connectivity between the mPFC and NAc and predicts affiliative behavior towards the partner.
“Mating strengthens functional connectivity between the mPFC and NAc and predicts affiliative behavior towards the partner [126].”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [126]
The degree of local field potential coupling between the mPFC and NAc after the first mating encounter predicts latency to initiate affiliative huddling with a partner in prairie voles.
“The degree of local field potential (LFP) coupling between the mPFC and NAc after the first mating encounter predicts latency to initiate affiliative huddling with a partner, a behavioral characteristic of pair-bonded voles.”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [126]
In rodents, monogamous pair bond formation can be biased.
“monogamous pair bond formation can be biased [3]”
From Translational opportunities for circuit-based social neuroscience: advancing 21st century psychiatry (2021) · cites this paper as [3]
Stimulating PFC projections to NAc induced pair-bonding in prairie voles without mating.
“while stimulating PFC projections to NAc induced pair-bonding in prairie voles without mating [3].”
From Translational opportunities for circuit-based social neuroscience: advancing 21st century psychiatry (2021) · cites this paper as [3]
Pair-bonding depends on the duration of cohabitation and constitutes a shift over time in the behavioral repertoire of adult animals.
“Indeed, pair-bonding depends on the duration of cohabitation and constitutes a shift over time in the behavioral repertoire of adult animals 4.”
From Social experience alters oxytocinergic modulation in the nucleus accumbens of female prairie voles (2022) · cites this paper as [4]
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References 52 · Cited by 115
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [14]Paxinos G Watson C The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates Compact 6th Academic Press 2009
- Authors
- Amadei, E. A., Johnson, Z. V., Jun Kwon, Y., Shpiner, A. C., Saravanan, V., Mays, W. D., Ryan, S. J., Walum, H., Rainnie, D. G., Young, L. J., & Liu, R. C.
- Affiliations
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- Emory University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Liu, Robert C.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2017-05-31
- Volume
- 546
- Issue
- 7657
- Pages
- 297-301
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- PMC
- PMC5499998
- OpenAlex
- W2618249749
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 7
- FWCI
- 18.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r90da033462-05, P51OD011132)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH097187, P50MH100023)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R90 DA-033462)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (F32GM128346)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (T32NS096050)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Keywords
- social bonding, pair bonding, Microtus ochrogaster, corticostriatal circuits, medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, affiliative behavior, oxytocin, dopamine, reward systems, interindividual variability
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Arvicolinae, Female, Male, Nucleus Accumbens, Pair Bond, Reward, Social Behavior, Time Factors, Prefrontal Cortex, Mating Preference, Animal
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