Compositional variation in early life parenting structures alters oxytocin and vasopressin 1a receptor development in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

Paternal absence can significantly alter bio-behavioral development in many biparental species. This effect has generally been demonstrated by comparing the development of offspring reared under biparental care with those reared after removal of the father. However, studies employing this design conflate two significant modifications to early life experience: removal of father-specific qualities and the general reduction of offspring-directed care. In the socially monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), the experience of paternal absence without substitution during development inhibits partner preference formation in adulthood, a hallmark of social monogamy, in females and males. Employing alloparents as substitutes for fathers, our previous work demonstrated that paternal absence affects pair-bond formation in female offspring via reduced quantity of care; but it affects pair-bond formation in male offspring by means of a missing paternal quality (or qualities).  Here, we prese...

父本缺失（paternal absence）可显著改变诸多双亲抚育物种（biparental species）的生物行为发育（bio-behavioral development）进程。此类效应的验证通常采用如下实验范式：对比接受双亲抚育（biparental care）的子代与父本移除后抚育的子代的发育差异。然而，采用该实验设计的研究，会将早期生命经验的两项关键改变混为一谈：一是父本特有特质的缺失，二是指向子代的照料（offspring-directed care）总量的普遍减少。在社会一夫一妻制的草原田鼠（Microtus ochrogaster）中，发育阶段未获替代的父本缺失经历，会抑制雌雄个体成年后的配偶偏好形成（partner preference formation）——这是社会一夫一妻制（social monogamy）的典型特征。我们此前以异亲（alloparents）作为父本替代照料者的研究证实：父本缺失会通过照料量减少影响雌性子代的配偶联结形成（pair-bond formation），而通过缺失的父本特有特质（或多项特质）影响雄性子代的配偶联结形成。在此，我们将呈现……