Oxytocin and social bonding.

The prairie vole is an excellent model for examining the neurobiology of social attachment, and in particular of pair-bond formation. In female prairie voles either sexual interactions or oxytocin infusions can hasten the formation of a partner preference. These results implicate oxytocin in the formation of adult heterosexual social bonds. In conjunction with work on other social systems described in this volume, these findings also support the suggestions of Klopfer and Newton that oxytocin may be important in coordinating mammalian social interactions with other critical reproductive events such as birth, lactation, and sexual behavior.