DeVries A C, DeVries M B, Taymans S, Carter C S
Department of Zoology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742-4415, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Aug 15;92(17):7744-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.17.7744.
Glucocorticoid levels in animals may respond to and influence the development of social attachments. This hypothesis was tested in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), monogamous rodents that form long-term heterosexual pair bonds. In socially naive female prairie voles, cohabitation with an unfamiliar male resulted in a dramatic decline in serum corticosterone levels. When corticosterone levels were reduced via adrenalectomy, females developed partner preferences after 1 h of cohabitation, while sham-operated and untreated females required 3 h or more of nonsexual cohabitation to establish a partner preference. In adrenalectomized and intact females, exogenous injections of corticosterone, given prior to social exposure, prevented the development of preferences for the cohabitating male. Although corticosterone inhibited the development of partner preferences, it did not interfere with the expression of previously established social preferences. These results suggest that social stimuli can modulate adrenal activity and that adrenal activity, in turn, is capable of influencing the formation of adult social preferences in female prairie voles. The involvement of the adrenal axis in the formation of partner preferences and the subsequent development of pair bonds provides a mechanism through which environmental and social factors may influence social organization in this species.
动物体内的糖皮质激素水平可能会对社会依恋的发展产生反应并产生影响。这一假设在草原田鼠（Microtus ochrogaster）身上得到了验证，草原田鼠是一种实行一夫一妻制的啮齿动物，会形成长期的异性伴侣关系。在社交经验不足的雌性草原田鼠中，与陌生雄性同居会导致血清皮质酮水平急剧下降。通过肾上腺切除术降低皮质酮水平后，雌性在同居1小时后就产生了伴侣偏好，而接受假手术和未接受治疗的雌性则需要3小时或更长时间的非性同居才能建立伴侣偏好。在接受肾上腺切除术和未接受手术的雌性中，在接触社会之前进行外源性皮质酮注射可阻止对同居雄性产生偏好。虽然皮质酮抑制了伴侣偏好的形成，但它并不干扰先前建立的社会偏好的表达。这些结果表明，社会刺激可以调节肾上腺活动，而肾上腺活动反过来又能够影响成年雌性草原田鼠社会偏好的形成。肾上腺轴参与伴侣偏好的形成以及随后伴侣关系的发展，为环境和社会因素可能影响该物种社会组织提供了一种机制。
