Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Horm Behav. 2024 Nov;166:105647. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105647. Epub 2024 Sep 29.
Pair bonds powerfully modulate health, which becomes particularly important when facing the detrimental effects of aging. To examine the impact of aging on relationship formation and response to loss, we examined behavior in naive 6-, 12-, and 18-month male and female prairie voles, a monogamous species that forms mating-based pair bonds. We found that older males (18-months) bonded quicker than younger voles, while similarly aged female voles increased partner directed affiliative behaviors. Supporting sex differences in bonding behaviors, we found that males were more likely to sample both partner and stranger voles while females were more likely to display partner preference during the initial 20 min of the test. We also found that male voles of all ages show enduring bonding behavior despite four weeks of partner separation while females show an overall decrease in partner-directed affiliation, including an erosion of partner preference in 12-month females. Finally, we found that the number of oxytocin, but not vasopressin, cells in the paraventricular hypothalamus increased at 18 months of age. These results establish prairie voles as a novel model to study the effects of normal and abnormal aging on pair bonding.
伴侣关系有力地调节着健康，当面临衰老的不利影响时，这一点尤为重要。为了研究衰老对关系形成和对丧失的反应的影响，我们检查了幼稚的 6 个月、12 个月和 18 个月大的雄性和雌性草原田鼠的行为，这是一种形成基于交配的伴侣关系的一夫一妻制物种。我们发现，年龄较大的雄性（18 个月大）比年轻的田鼠更快地形成纽带，而年龄相似的雌性田鼠则增加了对伴侣的亲昵行为。支持伴侣关系行为中的性别差异，我们发现雄性更有可能同时对伴侣和陌生田鼠进行采样，而雌性则更有可能在测试的最初 20 分钟内表现出对伴侣的偏好。我们还发现，尽管与伴侣分离了四周，但所有年龄段的雄性田鼠都表现出持久的伴侣关系行为，而雌性田鼠的伴侣定向联系总体上呈下降趋势，包括 12 个月大的雌性田鼠的伴侣偏好减弱。最后，我们发现，室旁核中催产素而不是加压素细胞的数量在 18 个月大时增加。这些结果确立了草原田鼠作为一种新的模型，用于研究正常和异常衰老对伴侣关系的影响。
