ArticleeLife2016
Dopamine and opioid systems interact within the nucleus accumbens to maintain monogamous pair bonds.
Article in eLife, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Endogenous mu-opioid modulation of social connection in humans: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Neurochemical imaging reveals changes in dopamine dynamics with photoperiod in a seasonally social vole species.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Reduced neural specificity for a romantic partner in the nucleus accumbens over relationship duration.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2026Article
- Kappa opioid receptor control of motivated behavior revisited.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Oxytocin receptors mediate social selectivity in prairie vole peer relationships.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- How dopamine guides our social world.Pharmacological reviews · 2025Review
- Mapping the cellular basis of species differences in oxytocin and dopamine receptor expression in the vole nucleus accumbens.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- A review of the effects of different types of social behaviors on the recruitment of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters in the nucleus accumbens.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2025Review
- Single nucleus RNA-sequencing reveals transcriptional synchrony across different relationships.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- A narrative on the neurobiological roots of attachment-system functioning.Communications psychology · 2024Review
- Re-wiring of the bonded brain: Gene expression among pair bonded female prairie voles changes as they transition to motherhood.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2024Article
- Nucleus accumbens dopamine release reflects the selective nature of pair bonds.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
- Attachment across the lifespan: Examining the intersection of pair bonding neurobiology and healthy aging.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Review
- Review
- Neural correlates and effect of jealousy on cognitive flexibility in the female titi monkey (Plecturocebus cupreus).Hormones and behavior · 2023Article
- Motherhood and DREADD manipulation of the nucleus accumbens weaken established pair bonds in female prairie voles.Hormones and behavior · 2023Article
- Peer Social Environment Impacts Behavior and Dopamine D1 Receptor Density in Prairie Voles (Microtus ochrogaster).Neuroscience · 2023Article
- Prairie vole pair bonding and plasticity of the social brain.Trends in neurosciences · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.