The nucleus accumbens is a key region that mediates aspects of immediate and long-term adaptations to various stimuli. For example, both repeated amphetamine and pair-bonding increase dopamine D1 receptor binding in the nucleus accumbens of the monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). This upregulation has significant and stimulus-dependent behavioral consequences. A promising candidate for these and other adaptations is the transcription factor ΔfosB. ΔfosB is a highly stable protein that persists in the brain over long periods of time, leading to increasing and accumulating levels with repeated or continuous exposure to specific stimuli. Within the nucleus accumbens, ΔfosB is specifically increased in medium spiny neurons containing D1 receptors. To explore whether ΔfosB is altered by drug and social experience in prairie voles, we performed three separate experiments. In the first experiment, animals were treated with repeated injections of amphetamine and then brain tissue was analyzed for ΔfosB expression. As expected, 4 days of amphetamine treatment increased ΔfosB in the nucleus accumbens, consistent with previous findings in other laboratory species. In the second experiment, animals were housed for 10 days with one of three social partners: a familiar same-sex sibling, an unfamiliar same-sex partner, or an unfamiliar opposite-sex partner. Here, we predicted that 10 days of housing with an opposite-sex partner would act as a "social reward," leading to upregulation of ΔfosB expression in the nucleus accumbens. In a third experiment, we also investigated whether 10 days of social isolation would result in altered ΔfosB activity. We hypothesized that isolation would lead to decreased levels of nucleus accumbens ΔfosB, as seen in other studies. However, neither opposite-sex cohabitation nor social isolation affected ΔfosB expression in the nucleus accumbens. These findings suggest that social stimuli, in contrast to drugs of abuse, are not mediators of ΔfosB in this region in prairie voles.

Three predictions arising from the proposal that infant-carrying serves as a form of courtship in callitrichid primates were tested, using data from captive common marmosets,Callithrix jacchusand cotton-top tamarins,Saguinus oedipus. The first prediction, that males would be more likely to successfully copulate while carrying infants than while not carrying infants, was not supported in either species. In common marmosets, males were less likely to copulate while carrying infants. This relation may reflect the lower activity levels and increased vigilance required by those individuals transporting infants. The second prediction, that the overall percentage of time that males spent carrying infants would be related to overall frequency of copulations during fertile periods, was also not supported for either species. The third prediction was that, if females selected mates relative to their infant-care ‘performance’, males should be more solicitous of the breeding female's efforts to relinquish the infant to another carrier than to the efforts of other group members. If so, then males should retrieve harassed infants from mothers more frequently than from other group members; this prediction was not supported. The results of this study offer no support for the contention that infant care serves as a form of courtship in callitrichid primates.

In the present commentary we expand on two concepts relevant to understanding affliliative bonding. Differences and similarities between the functions and actions of oxytocin and vasopressin are difficult to study but may be critical to an understanding of mechanisms for social bonding. What is termed here a "trait of affiliation" may reflect in part the capacity of these same peptides to program the developing nervous system. © 2005 Cambridge University Press.

How individuals respond to and cope with stress is linked with their health and well-being. It is presumed that early stress responsiveness helps shape the health of the developing organism, but the relationship between stress responsiveness and early immune function during development is not well-known. We hypothesized that stress responsiveness may shape epigenetic regulation of immune genes in infancy. We investigated whether aspects of behavioral responsiveness and hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal stress-response were associated with epigenome-wide immune cell DNA methylation patterns in 154 infant rhesus monkeys (3-4 months old). Infants' behavioral and physiological responses were collected during a standardized biobehavioral assessment, which included temporary relocation and separation from their mother and social group. Genome-wide DNA methylation was quantified using restricted representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) from blood DNA collected 2-hours post-separation. Epigenome-wide analyses were conducted using simple regression, multiple regression controlling for immune cell counts, and permutation regression, all corrected for false discovery rate. Across the variables analyzed, there were 20,368 unique sites (in 9,040 genes) at which methylation was significantly associated with at least one behavioral responsiveness or cortisol measure across the three analyses. There were significant associations in 442 genes in the Immune System Process ontology category, and 94 genes in the Inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling gene pathway. Out of 35 candidate genes that were selected for further investigation, there were 13 genes with at least one site at which methylation was significantly associated with behavioral responsiveness or cortisol, including two intron sites in the glucocorticoid receptor gene, at which methylation was negatively correlated with emotional behavior the day following the social separation (Day 2 Emotionality; β = -0.39, q < 0.001) and cortisol response following a relocation stressor (Sample 1; β = -0.33, q < 0.001). We conclude that biobehavioral stress responsiveness may correlate with the developing epigenome, and that DNA methylation of immune cells may be a mechanism by which patterns of stress response affect health and immune functioning.