title: Dopamine and opioid systems interact within the nucleus accumbens to maintain monogamous pair bonds.
abstract: Prairie vole breeder pairs form monogamous pair bonds, which are maintained through the expression of selective aggression toward novel conspecifics. Here, we utilize behavioral and anatomical techniques to extend the current understanding of neural mechanisms that mediate pair bond maintenance. For both sexes, we show that pair bonding up-regulates mRNA expression for genes encoding D1-like dopamine (DA) receptors and dynorphin as well as enhances stimulated DA release within the nucleus accumbens (NAc). We next show that D1-like receptor regulation of selective aggression is mediated through downstream activation of kappa-opioid receptors (KORs) and that activation of these receptors mediates social avoidance. Finally, we also identified sex-specific alterations in KOR binding density within the NAc shell of paired males and demonstrate that this alteration contributes to the neuroprotective effect of pair bonding against drug reward. Together, these findings suggest motivational and valence processing systems interact to mediate the maintenance of social bonds.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States.|University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.
authors.forename: Shanna L
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3831-5481
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Resendez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States.
authors.forename: Piper C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Keyes
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmangham, United States.
authors.forename: Jeremy J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Day
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States.
authors.forename: Caely
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hambro
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States.
authors.forename: Curtis J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, United States.
authors.forename: Francis K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Maina
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States.
authors.forename: Lori N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Eidson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States.|Department of Human Genetics, Emory University, Atlanta, United States.
authors.forename: Kirsten A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Porter-Stransky
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nevárez
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmangham, United States.
authors.forename: J William
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States.
authors.forename: Morgan A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kuhnmuench
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States.
authors.forename: Anne Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, United States.
authors.forename: Tiffany A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mathews
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States.|Department of Psychology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States.
authors.forename: Brandon J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Aragona
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D004399:Dynorphins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000502:physiology*; D010152:Pair Bond; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1; D004399:Dynorphins; D004298:Dopamine
keywords: dopamine; dynorphin; kappa-opioid receptors; motivation; neuroscience; pair bonding; prairie vole