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The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), a monogamous rodent that forms long-lasting pair bonds, has proven useful for the neurobiological study of social attachment. In the laboratory, pair bonds can be assessed by testing for a partner preference, a choice test in which pair-bonded voles regularly prefer their partner to a conspecific stranger. Studies reported here investigate the role of dopamine D2-like receptors (i.e., D2, D3, and D4 receptors) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) for the formation of a partner preference in female voles. Mating facilitated partner preference formation and associated with an approximately 50% increase in extracellular dopamine in the NAcc. Microinjection of the D2 antagonist eticlopride into the NAcc (but not the prelimbic cortex) blocked the formation of a partner preference in mating voles, whereas the D2 agonist quinpirole facilitated formation of a partner preference in the absence of mating. Taken together, these results suggest that D2-like receptors in the NAcc are important for the mediation of social attachments in female voles. The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) is a monogamous rodent that forms long-lasting pair bonds (Getz, Carter, & Gavish, 1981; Getz & Hofman, 1986). In the field, pahbonds are characterized by preferential association with one partner and the failure to take a new partner after the loss of a mate (Pizzuto, 1998). In the laboratory, these bonds are assessed by testing for a partner preference, a choice test in which pair-bonded voles regularly prefer their partner to a conspecific stranger. Both male and female prairie voles that have mated for more than 14 hr will choose to huddle with their partner rather than with a novel stranger (Insel &

This study examined the role of dopamine (DA) in partner preference (PP) formation in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). The nonspecific DA antagonist haloperidol blocked mating-induced PP, whereas the nonspecific DA agonist apomorphine induced PP without mating. The D2 antagonist eticlopride, but not the Dl antagonist SCH23390, blocked PP, whereas the D2 agonist quinpirole, but not the Dl agonist SKF38393, induced PP without mating. Injections of eticlopride before or immediately after mating, but not 24 hr after mating, impaired PP, indicating that DA's effects were not due to an interference with mating or sensory recognition. Finally, intracerebroventricular injections of eticlopride diminished PP. Together, these data suggest that mating-induced PP requires activation of D2 receptors and that social experience may activate dopaminergic pathways, with enduring effects on behavior.

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