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Early social attachments lie at the heart of emotional and social development in many mammals, including humans. In nature, monogamous prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) experience considerable natural variation in early social attachment opportunities due to differences in family structure (e.g., single-mothers, solitary breeding pairs, and communal groups). We exploited some of this natural variation in family structure to examine the influence of early social environment on the development of adult social behavior. First, we characterized the parental care received by pups reared biparentally (BP) or by a single-mother (SM) in the laboratory. Second, we examined whether BP- and SM-reared offspring differed in adult nurturing, bonding, and emotional behaviors. Finally, we investigated the effects of rearing condition on neuropeptide systems that regulate adult social behavior (oxytocin, vasopressin, and corticotropin-releasing factor [CRF]). Observations revealed that SM-reared pups were exposed more frequently (P |
