Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36964221›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2023

Partner separation rescues pair bond-induced decreases in hypothalamic oxytocin neural densities.

Brandon A Fricker, Venezia C Roshko, Jinrun Jiang, Aubrey M Kelly

Open access · goldFull text read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
4.7field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Neural Mechanisms of Social Homeostasis: Dynamic Range Plasticity.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Brandon A FrickerDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, 36 Eagle Row, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Venezia C RoshkoDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, 36 Eagle Row, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Jinrun JiangDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, 36 Eagle Row, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
Aubrey M KellyDepartment of Psychology, Emory University, 36 Eagle Row, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. aubrey.kelly@emory.edu.
Emory University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Studies in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) have shown that although formation of the pair bond is accompanied by a suite of behavioral changes, a bond between two voles can dissolve and individuals can form new pair bonds with other conspecifics. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this behavioral flexibility have not been well-studied. Here we examine plasticity of nonapeptide, vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT), neuronal populations in relation to bonding and the dissolution of bonds. Using adult male and female prairie voles, animals were either pair bonded, co-housed with a same-sex sibling, separated from their pair bond partner, or separated from their sibling. We examined neural densities of VP and OT cell groups and observed plasticity in the nonapeptide populations of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). Voles that were pair bonded had fewer PVN OT neurons, suggesting that PVN OT neural densities decrease with pair bonding, but increase and return to a pre-pair bonded baseline after the dissolution of a pair bond. Our findings suggest that the PVN nonapeptide cell groups are particularly plastic in adulthood, providing a mechanism by which voles can exhibit context-appropriate behavior related to bond status.

Indexed as

OxytocinPair BondAnimalsArvicolinaeFemaleHypothalamusMaleParaventricular Hypothalamic NucleusReceptors, OxytocinOxytocinReceptors, Oxytocin

Identifiers

PMID36964221
PMCPMC10037388
OpenAlexW4360854479

What OpenQuestion holds

Textfull text, public
LicenceCC BY
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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.