Bonding in the Brain: Oxytocin
Some genes have such a long and extensive history of research that it is difficult to decide where to start. This article will be about oxytocin, and also about love and caring, but also xenophobia and dishonesty. As a starting point for this story, I choose a cute little rodent from North America, the prairie vole. The prairie vole lives distinctly monogamous, which is rather unusual in the animal kingdom. Even the closely related and almost identical-looking montane vole is not monogamous. This has left researchers wondering why these behaviors are so different.… Read more
