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Alexander Ophir: The cognitive ecology of monogamy

Theme:
Rodents
Tags:
mate choiceneurobiologygenesbrainmonogamy
What:
Talk
When:
11:00 AM, Wednesday 27 Jun 2018 (1 hour 30 minutes)
Alexander G. Ophir 
Cornell University


Clint Dale Kelly 
Professeur Université du Québec à Montréal
Moderator

Perhaps no neuromodulatory system is more important for social behavior than nonapeptides (oxytocin and vasopressin) and no behavior is more complex than reproductive strategy. I will discuss how early experience shapes reproductive decisions in prairie voles. The motivation toward monogamy or polygamy, with memory modulated by nonapeptides, depends on early experience and individual ability to assess the social and spatial landscape.

Ophir AG (2017) Navigating monogamy: Nonapeptide sensitivity in a memory neural circuit may shape social behavior and mating decisionsFrontiers in Neuroscience. 11, 397. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00397

Prounis GS, Foley L, Rehman A, Ophir AG (2015) Perinatal and juvenile social environments interact to shape cognitive behavior and neural phenotype in prairie volesProceedings of the Royal Society B. 282, 1819, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2236

Ophir AG, Wolff JO, Phelps SM (2008) Variation in neural V1aR predicts sexual fidelity and space use among prairie voles in semi-natural settingsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 105, 1249-1254. [PMID: 18212120]

Bartz, J. A., Zaki, J., Bolger, N., & Ochsner, K. N. (2011). Social effects of oxytocin in humans: context and person matterTrends in Cognitive Sciences15(7), 301-309

Algoe, S. B., Kurtz, L. E., & Grewen, K. (2017). Oxytocin and Social Bonds: The Role of Oxytocin in Perceptions of Romantic Partners’ Bonding BehaviorPsychological science28(12), 1763-1772


Participant
Cornell University
Moderator
Université du Québec à Montréal
Professeur
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