Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2012 Nov;224(1):121-32. doi: 10.1007/s00213-012-2836-4. Epub 2012 Aug 18.
Social environment influences alcohol consumption in humans; however, animal models have only begun to address biological underpinnings of these effects.
We investigated whether social influences on alcohol drinking in the prairie vole are specific to the sex of the social partner.
In Experiment 1, control, sham, and gonadectomized voles were placed either in mesh-divided housing with a same-sex sibling or isolation with access to ethanol. In Experiment 2, animals were given an elevated plus maze test (EPM) and then females were paired with a castrated male followed by isolation or mesh-divided housing with access to ethanol. In Experiment 3, subjects categorized as low or high drinkers based on initial ethanol intake were placed in mesh-divided housing with an opposite-sex partner of the same or opposite drinking group and ethanol access. Subjects were then moved back to isolation for a final ethanol access period.
Same-sex pairs showed social facilitation of drinking similar to previous reports. Gonadectomy did not affect alcohol drinking. Opposite-sex paired animals in Experiment 2 did not differ in alcohol drinking based on social housing. EPM measures suggested a relationship between anxiety-like behaviors and drinking that depended on social environment. Experiment 3 identified moderate changes in alcohol preference based on social housing, but these effects were influenced by the animal's own drinking behavior and were independent of their partner's drinking.
Social influences on alcohol self-administration in prairie voles differ based on the sex of a social partner, consistent with human drinking behavior.
社会环境会影响人类的饮酒行为；然而，动物模型仅开始探讨这些影响的生物学基础。
我们研究了草原田鼠的社会环境对饮酒行为的影响是否因社会伙伴的性别而异。
在实验 1 中，对照组、假手术组和去势组的田鼠分别被放置在有同性别兄弟姐妹的网格分隔的笼子里或与酒精接触的隔离环境中。在实验 2 中，动物接受了高架十字迷宫测试（EPM），然后雌性与去势雄性配对，随后进行隔离或与酒精接触的网格分隔的笼子。在实验 3 中，根据初始乙醇摄入量将被试分为低或高饮酒组，然后将其与同组或异组的异性伴侣一起放置在网格分隔的笼子里，并提供乙醇。然后，这些被试被转移回隔离环境进行最后一次乙醇接触期。
同性别配对显示出与先前报道相似的饮酒社交促进作用。去势对酒精摄入量没有影响。实验 2 中，处于不同社交环境的异性配对动物的饮酒量没有差异。EPM 测量表明，焦虑样行为与饮酒之间存在关联，而这种关联取决于社交环境。实验 3 确定了基于社交环境的酒精偏好的适度变化，但这些影响受到动物自身饮酒行为的影响，并且与它们的伴侣的饮酒行为无关。
草原田鼠的酒精自我给药行为受社会环境影响的方式因社会伙伴的性别而异，这与人类的饮酒行为一致。
