Both oxytocin and vasopressin may influence alloparental behavior in male prairie voles

• Published in: Hormones and behavior 2004-05, Vol.45 (5), p.354-361
• Main Authors: Bales, Karen L, Kim, Albert J, Lewis-Reese, Antoniah D, Sue Carter, C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggression - drug effects; Aggression - physiology; Alloparental behavior; Animal ethology; Animals; Antidiuretic Hormone Receptor Antagonists; Arvicolinae - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hormones and behavior; Injections, Intraventricular; Male; Mammalia; Microtus ochrogaster; Nesting Behavior - drug effects; Nesting Behavior - physiology; Oxytocin; Oxytocin - physiology; Paternal Behavior; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Receptors, Oxytocin - antagonists & inhibitors; Vasopressin; Vasopressins - pharmacology; Vasopressins - physiology; Vasotocin - analogs & derivatives; Vertebrata
• ISSN: 0018-506X; 1095-6867
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.01.004

Neuropeptides, especially oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), have been implicated in several features of monogamy including alloparenting. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of OT and AVP in alloparental behavior in reproductively naı̈ve male prairie voles. Males received intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF), OT, an OT receptor antagonist (OTA), AVP, an AVP receptor antagonist (AVPA), or combinations of OTA and AVPA and were subsequently tested for parental behavior. Approximately 45 min after treatment, animals were tested for behavioral responses to stimulus pups. In a 10-min test, spontaneous alloparental behavior was high in control animals. OT and AVP did not significantly increase the number of males that showed parental behavior, although more subtle behavioral changes were observed. Combined treatment with AVPA and OTA (10 ng each) significantly reduced male parental behavior and increased attacks; following a lower dose (1 ng OTA/1 ng AVPA), males were less likely to display kyphosis and tended to be slower to approach pups than controls. Since treatment with only one antagonist did not interfere with the expression of alloparenting, these results suggest that access to either OT or AVP receptors may be sufficient for the expression of alloparenting.