Gustison Morgan L, Muñoz-Castañeda Rodrigo, Osten Pavel, Phelps Steven M
Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin; Austin, TX, USA.
Department of Psychology, Western University, ON, Canada.
bioRxiv. 2023 Oct 28:2023.07.26.550685. doi: 10.1101/2023.07.26.550685.
Sexual bonds are central to the social lives of many species, including humans, and monogamous prairie voles have become the predominant model for investigating such attachments. We developed an automated whole-brain mapping pipeline to identify brain circuits underlying pair-bonding behavior. We identified bonding-related c-Fos induction in 68 brain regions clustered in seven major brain-wide neuronal circuits. These circuits include known regulators of bonding, such as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, paraventricular hypothalamus, ventral pallidum, and prefrontal cortex. They also include brain regions previously unknown to shape bonding, such as ventromedial hypothalamus, medial preoptic area and the medial amygdala, but that play essential roles in bonding-relevant processes, such as sexual behavior, social reward and territorial aggression. Contrary to some hypotheses, we found that circuits active during mating and bonding were largely sexually monomorphic. Moreover, c-Fos induction across regions was strikingly consistent between members of a pair, with activity best predicted by rates of ejaculation. A novel cluster of regions centered in the amygdala remained coordinated after bonds had formed, suggesting novel substrates for bond maintenance. Our tools and results provide an unprecedented resource for elucidating the networks that translate sexual experience into an enduring bond.
性纽带对于包括人类在内的许多物种的社会生活至关重要，一夫一妻制的草原田鼠已成为研究此类依恋关系的主要模型。我们开发了一种自动化的全脑图谱绘制流程，以识别构成伴侣关系行为基础的脑回路。我们在聚集于七个主要全脑神经元回路中的68个脑区中确定了与伴侣关系相关的c-Fos诱导。这些回路包括已知的伴侣关系调节因子，如终纹床核、室旁下丘脑、腹侧苍白球和前额叶皮层。它们还包括以前未知对伴侣关系有影响的脑区，如下内侧下丘脑、内侧视前区和内侧杏仁核，但这些脑区在与伴侣关系相关的过程中发挥着重要作用，如性行为、社会奖赏和领地攻击。与一些假设相反，我们发现交配和建立伴侣关系期间活跃的回路在很大程度上是性别单态的。此外，一对伴侣成员之间各区域的c-Fos诱导非常一致，活动情况最好由射精频率预测。一个以杏仁核为中心的新区域簇在伴侣关系形成后仍保持协调，这表明存在维持伴侣关系的新基质。我们的工具和结果为阐明将性体验转化为持久伴侣关系的网络提供了前所未有的资源。
