Dataset Information

Early Intranasal Vasopressin Administration Impairs Partner Preference in Adult Male Prairie Voles (Microtus ochrogaster).

ABSTRACT: Research supports a modulatory role for arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the expression of socially motivated behaviors in mammals. The acute effects of AVP administration are demonstrably pro-social across species, providing the justification for an ever-increasing measure of clinical interest over the last decade. Combining these results with non-invasive intranasal delivery results in an attractive system for offering intranasal AVP (IN-AVP) as a therapeutic for the social impairments of children with autism spectrum disorder. But, very little is known about the long-term effects of IN-AVP during early development. In this experiment, we explored whether a single week of early juvenile administration of IN-AVP (low?=?0.05?IU/kg, medium?=?0.5?IU/kg, high?=?5.0?IU/kg) could impact behavior across life in prairie voles. We found increases in fecal boli production during open field and novel object recognition testing for the medium dose in both males and females. Medium-dose females also had significantly more play bouts than control when exposed to novel conspecifics during the juvenile period. Following sexual maturity, the medium and high doses of IN-AVP blocked partner preference formation in males, while no such impairment was found for any of the experimental groups in females. Finally, the high-dose selectively increased adult male aggression with novel conspecifics, but only after extended cohabitation with a mate. Our findings confirm that a single week of early IN-AVP treatment can have organizational effects on behavior across life in prairie voles. Specifically, the impairments in pair-bonding behavior experienced by male prairie voles should raise caution when the prosocial effects of acute IN-AVP demonstrated in other studies are extrapolated to long-term treatment.

SUBMITTER: Simmons TC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5487415 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Early Intranasal Vasopressin Administration Impairs Partner Preference in Adult Male Prairie Voles (<i>Microtus ochrogaster</i>).

Simmons Trenton C TC Balland Jessica F JF Dhauna Janeet J Yang Sang Yun SY Traina Jason L JL Vazquez Jessica J Bales Karen L KL

Frontiers in endocrinology 20170628

Research supports a modulatory role for arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the expression of socially motivated behaviors in mammals. The acute effects of AVP administration are demonstrably pro-social across species, providing the justification for an ever-increasing measure of clinical interest over the last decade. Combining these results with non-invasive intranasal delivery results in an attractive system for offering intranasal AVP (IN-AVP) as a therapeutic for the social impairments of childre ...[more]

PMID: 28701997

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Project description:In many socially monogamous species, individuals form long-term pair bonds and males mate guard females. Such behavior is thought to help secure intra-pair fertilizations, the result of intra-pair copulations (IPCs), and ensure paternity. However, socially monogamous males are also often opportunistic and seek additional mating opportunities with other females, leaving their partner unguarded. The success associated with a male's decision to seek more mates over guarding his partner might be impacted by the activity of other males, specifically the proportion of other males leaving their territories to seek extra-pair copulations (EPCs). The amount of EPC-seeking males can impact the likelihood of a given male encountering an unguarded paired female, but also of being cuckolded (losing IPCs). It remains unclear under which conditions it is optimal to stay and guard or seek EPCs. Using field data from socially monogamous prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) to generate parameters, we used optimal performance modeling (Monte Carlo simulations) to ask when is it most reproductively advantageous for a bonded male to seek EPCs, despite the risk of losing IPCs. We defined three types of males: exclusive mating bonded males (true residents), non-exclusive mating bonded residents (roving residents), and unpaired males (wanderers). We first modeled the success of an individual male living in a context that incorporated only true and roving residents. We next added wandering males to this model. Finally, we considered the effects of including wandering males and unpaired females in our model. For all contexts, we found that as EPC-seeking in the population increases, the potential reproductive benefit for seeking EPCs increasingly outpaces the rate of cuckolding. In other words, we observe a shift in optimal strategy from true residents to rovers among paired males. Our models also demonstrate that reproductive fitness is likely to remain constant, despite the shift toward obtaining success via EPCs over IPCs. Our results show the dynamic nature of reproductive decision-making, and demonstrate that alternative reproductive decisions yield subtle but important differences despite appearing as balanced strategies.

Dataset Information

Early Intranasal Vasopressin Administration Impairs Partner Preference in Adult Male Prairie Voles (Microtus ochrogaster).

Publications

Early Intranasal Vasopressin Administration Impairs Partner Preference in Adult Male Prairie Voles (<i>Microtus ochrogaster</i>).

Similar Datasets

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