Establishment of stable dominance interactions in prairie vole peers: Relationships with alcohol drinking and activation of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus

Abstract

Dominance hierarchies are an important aspect of group-living as they determine individual access to resources. The existence of dominance ranks in access to space has not been described in socially monogamous, communally nesting prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Here we tested whether dominance could be assessed using the tube test. We also tested whether dominance related to alcohol intake, similar to what has been demonstrated in non-monogamous species. Same-sex pairs of unfamiliar peers were tested in a series of three trials of the tube test, then paired and allowed individual access to alcohol and water for four days, and then tested again in the tube test. For all pairs, the same subjects won the majority of trials before and after alcohol drinking. The number of wins negatively correlated with alcohol intake on the first day of drinking, and positively correlated with levels of Fos in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus following the tube test in a separate group of voles. Dominance was not related to Fos levels in other brain regions examined. Together, these results indicate that prairie voles quickly establish stable dominance ranks through a process possibly involving the hypothalamus, and suggest that dominance is linked to alcohol drinking.

Social defeat stress and escalation of cocaine and alcohol consumption: Focus on CRF

“…Following CSC stress, submissive mice voluntarily consume more alcohol compared to either singly-housed controls ( Bahi, 2013 ; Peters et al, 2013 ) or dominant males ( Hilakivi-Clarke and Lister, 1992 ). Similar findings are reported using CSC protocols in rats ( Blanchard et al 1987 , 1992 ; Ellison, 1987 ), in evaluations of social dominance among prairie voles ( Anacker et al, 2014 ), and in socially housed squirrel monkeys ( McKenzie-Quirk and Miczek, 2008 ); likewise, social dominance appears to have a protective effect against escalated alcohol intake in cynomolgus monkeys ( Helms et al, 2012 ; Jimenez and Grant, 2017 ). In rats, pre-stress alcohol intake does not correlate with later hierarchical standing or drinking following CSC stress, indicating that elevated drinking likely results from subordination stress rather than individual differences in alcohol preference ( Blanchard et al, 1992 ; Hilakivi-Clarke and Lister, 1992 , but Wolffgramm and Heyne, 1991 ).…”

Brain functional networks associated with social bonding in monogamous voles

“…Connectivity between PVN–RSC–BLA may be related to an association of a spatial context with a socially salient stimuli. While OXT projections from PVN may probably influence the regulation of social salience in the whole network ( Johnson et al, 2017 ), it is also reported to be sensitive to external stimuli ( Anacker et al, 2014 ; Liu et al, 2001 ) that can impact OXT synthesis and release ( Smith and Wang, 2014 ). The BLA may act as an associative site for stimulus-outcome representations ( Cardinal et al, 2002 ), which would allow an appropriate response according to previous social encounters, information that possibly requires hippocampus-associated memory (BLA-DG) ( Frey et al, 2001 ; Tashiro et al, 2007 ).…”

Dynamic modulation of sociality and aggression: an examination of plasticity within endocrine and neuroendocrine systems

“…While acute increases in glucocorticoids can promote aggression [67], chronic glucocorticoid exposure tends to suppress aggression and increase social avoidance [68,69]. Chronically elevated glucocorticoids can also impair the formation and maintenance of social bonds by reducing the expression of affiliative behaviours central to these bonds [68,70]. Differences in the behavioural effects of glucocorticoids across timescales of exposure probably stem, at least in part, from the cumulative effects of glucocorticoid exposure on other signalling systems.…”