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Nature 429, 711-712 (17 June 2004) | doi:10.1038/429711a

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Neurobiology:  Why voles stick together

Evan Balaban1

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The tendency for animals to form social bonds after sexual activity varies greatly from species to species. Work with voles illuminates a molecular pathway in the brain that influences such differences.

A report on page 754 of this issue continues a fascinating line of inquiry into the basic brain mechanisms that contribute to social behaviour. There, Lim and colleagues1 show that increasing the expression of a single protein in a particular brain region of male meadow voles makes them more socially cohesive — rather like their close relation the prairie vole.

  1. Evan Balaban is in the Behavioural Neurosciences Program, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Docteur Penfield, Montreal H3A 1B1, Canada.
    e-mail: Email: evan@psych.mcgill.ca

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