Voles, vasopressin, and infidelity: A molecular basis for monogamy, a platform for ethics, and more?

Biology and Philosophy

Volumn 27, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 521-543

  McKaughan, Daniel J ^a  

^a BOSTON COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

Churchland; Free will; Neuroethics; Oxytocin; Patricia Smith; Science and culture; Vasopressin; Voles

Indexed keywords

ETHICS; MORALITY; PHILOSOPHY; RESEARCH; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR;

MURIDAE; PATRICIA;

EID: 84861785965     PISSN: 01693867     EISSN: 15728404     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10539-011-9303-1     Document Type: Review

References (95)

1. Ahern TH, Young LJ (2009) The impact of early life family structure on adult social attachment, alloparental behavior, and the neuropeptide systems regulating affiliative behaviors in the monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). Front Behav Neurosci 3(17): 1-19.
2. Bales KL, Boone E, Epperson P, Hoffman G, Carter SC (2011) Are behavioral effects of early experience mediated by oxytocin? Front Psychiatry 2: 1-12.
3. Bales KL, Plotsky PM, Young LJ, Lim M, Grotte N, Ferrer E, Carter CS (2007) Neonatal oxytocin manipulations have long-lasting, sexually dimorphic effects on vasopressin receptors. Neuroscience 144: 38-45.
4. Bazell R (2008) The cheatin' gene: researchers find men may be genetically predisposed to cheat. NBC Nightly News with Brain Williams. Retrieved from http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/3032619/#26512696.
5. Beurton PJ, Raphael F, Rheinberger H-J (eds) (2000) The concept of the gene in development and evolution: historical and epistemological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
6. Bickle John (2003) Philosophy and neuroscience: a ruthlessly reductive account. Kluwer, Drodrecht.
7. Carter CS, Grippo AJ, Pournajafi-Nazarloo H, Ruscio MG, Porges SW (2008) Oxytocin, vasopressin and sociality. Prog Brain Res 170: 331-336.
8. Carter SC, Boone EM, Pournajafi-Nazarloo H, Bales KL (2009) Consequences of early experiences and exposure to oxytocin and vasopressin are sexually dimorphic. Dev Neurosci 31: 332-341.
9. Churchland PS (1991) Our brains, our selves: reflections on neuroethical questions. In: Roy DJ, Wynne BE, Old RW (eds) Bioscience and Society. New York: John-Wiley & Sons, pp 77-96.
10. Churchland PS (2002) Brain-wise: studies in neurophilosophy. MIT Press, Cambridge.
11. Churchland PS (2006) The big questions: do we have free will? New Scientist. 2578: 42-45. November 18.
12. Churchland PS (2008) The impact of neuroscience on philosophy. Neuron 60: 409-411.
13. Churchland PS (2009) Inference to the best decision. In: Bickle J (ed) The oxford handbook of philosophy and neuroscience. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 419-430.
14. Churchland PS (2011) Braintrust: what neuroscience tells us about morality. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
15. Churchland PM (1995) The engine of reason, the seat of the soul: a philosophical journey into the brain. MIT Press, Cambridge.
16. Churchland PM (1996) The neural representation of the social world. In: May L, Friedman M, Clark A (eds) Mind and morals: essays on cognitive science and ethics. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 91-108.
17. Commitment phobes can blame genes: a man's reluctance to marry may be down to a genetic 'flaw', say researchers. BBC News, September 2, 2008.
18. Cortez MF (2008a) Monogamy gene links men's DNA to happily ever after in marriage. Bloomberg, September 1. http://www. bloomberg. com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive& sid=a5kGdZ7L7vMI& refer=home.
19. Cortez MF (2008b) Fidelity in DNA? Researchers find monogamy gene in men. Mormon Times (Deseret News), September 2. http://www. deseretnews. com/article/705381381/Fidelity-in-DNA-Researchers-findmonogamy-gene-in-men. html.
20. Could monogamy gene combat infidelity? ABC News (Good Morning America), 23 July 2005.
21. Could there be a cheating gene? The Tyra Banks Show, 12 Oct 2009.
22. Damasio A (2005) Brain trust. Nature 435: 571-572.
23. Damasio A (2007) Neuroscience and ethics: intersections. Am J Bioeth 7(1): 3-7.
24. Donaldson ZR, Young LJ (2008) Oxytocin, vasopressin, and the neurogenetics of sociality. Science 322(5903): 900-904.
25. Farah MJ, Heberlein AS (2007) Personhood and neuroscience: naturalizing or nihilating? Am J Bioeth (AJOB-Neuroscience) 7(1): 37-48.
26. Fink S, Excoffier L, Heckel G (2006) Mammalian monogamy is not controlled by a single gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103: 10956-10960.
27. Gene determines fidelity in men. Health Jockey, 2 Sept 2008.
28. Genetic code for monogamy. National Geographic. 12 Jan 2009. Video available online at http://video. nationalgeographic. com/video/player/national-geographic-channel/specials-1/science-technology/ngc-genetic-code-for-monogamy/.
29. Getz LL, Carter CS (1996) Prairie-vole partnerships. Am Sci 84: 56-62.
30. Gibbard A (1990) Wise choices, apt feelings: a theory of normative judgment. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
31. Gould SJ (1978) Ever since darwin. Norton, New York.
32. Griffiths PE, Stotz K (2007) Gene. In: Ruse M, Hull D (eds) Cambridge companion to philosophy of biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 85-102.
33. Hammock EAD (2007) Gene regulation as a modulator of social preference in voles. Adv Genet 59: 107-127.
34. Heckel G, Fink S (2008) Evolution of the Arginine Vasopressin 1a receptor and implications for mammalian social behaviour chapter 26 in progress in brain research. In: Neumann ID, Landgraf R (eds) Advances in vasopressin and oxytocin-from gene to behavior, vol 170(8). Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 321-330.
35. Highfield R (2004) How a cupid gene could stop men straying. The Telegraph, June 23. http://www. telegraph. co. uk/science/science-news/4769868/How-a-Cupid-genecould-stop-men-straying. html.
36. Highfield R (2008) 'Divorce gene' linked to relationship troubles. The Telegraph, September 1. http://www. telegraph. co. uk/science/science-news/3350718/Divorcegene-linked-to-relationship-troubles. html.
37. Holden C (2008) Why men cheat: study chalks up promiscuous behavior to a single genetic change. Science Now, September 2. http://news. sciencemag. org/sciencenow/2008/09/02-01. html?ref=hp.
38. Hyman SE (2007) The neurobiology of addiction: implications for voluntary control of behavior. Am J Bioethics 7(1): 8-11.
39. I get a kick out of you; the science of love (love is all about chemistry). The Economist, 14 Feb 2004.
40. Insel TR (2010) The challenge of translation in social neuroscience: a review of oxytocin, vasopressin, and affiliative behavior. Neuron 65: 768-779.
41. Insel TR, Fernald RD (2004) How the brain processes social information: searching for the social brain. Annu Rev Neurosci 27: 697-722.
42. Johnson CY (2004) Study says gene encourages monogamy. Boston Globe, June 17. http://www. boston. com/news/nation/articles/2004/06/17/study_says_gene_encourages_monogamy/.
43. Joyce R (2006) The evolution of morality. MIT Press, Cambridge.
44. Kettlewell J (2004) Fidelity gene' found in voles: a single gene can turn the don juan of voles into an attentive home-loving husband. Nature magazine has reported. BBC News.
45. Kirn W (2004) Curing casanova. New York Times Magazine, pp 13-14.
46. Klotz L, Sylvester E (2009) Breeding bio insecurity: how US biodefense is exporting fear, globalizing risk, and making us all less secure. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
47. Knafo A, Israel S, Darvasi A, Bachner-Melman R, Uzefovsky F, Cohen L, Feldman E, Lerer E, Laiba E, Raz Y (2008) Individual differences in allocation of funds in the dictator game associated with length of the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor RS3 promoter region and correlation between RS3 Length And Hippocampal mRNA. Genes Brain Behav 7: 266-275.
48. Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E (2005) Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature 435: 673-676.
49. Lewontin R (1992) Biology as ideology: the doctrine of DNA. Harper-Collins, New York.
50. Lewontin R (2011) The genotype/phenotype distinction. In: Edward NZ (ed) The stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (summer 2011 edition) http://plato. stanford. edu/archives/sum2011/entries/genotype-phenotype/.
51. Lewontin R, Rose S, Kamin L (1984) Not in our genes: biology, ideology, and human nature. Pantheon, New York.
52. Libet Benjamin (1985) Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. Behav Brain Sci 8: 529-566.
53. Lim MM, Young LJ (2004) Vasopressin-dependent neural circuits underlying pair bond formation in the monogamous prairie vole. Neuroscience 125: 35-45.
54. Lim MM, Wang Z, Olazábal DE, Ren X, Terwilliger EF, Young LJ (2004) Enhanced partner preference in a promiscuous species by manipulating the expression of a single gene. Nature 429: 754-757.
55. Mabry KE, Streatfeild CA, Keane B, Solomon NG (2011) Avpr1a length polymorphism is not associated with either social or genetic monogamy in free-living prairie voles. Anim Behav 81: 11-18.
56. Macrae F (2008) The love-rat gene: why some men are born to cause trouble and strife. Daily Mail, September 4. http://www. dailymail. co. uk/sciencetech/article-1051487/The-love-rat-gene-Why-menborn-cause-trouble-strife. html.
57. McGuire B, Novak M (1987) The Effects of cross-fostering on the development of social preferences in meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Behav Neural Biol 47(2): 167-172.
58. McGraw LA, Thomas JW, Young LJ (2008) White paper proposal for sequencing the genome of the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). Sequencing proposal submitted to the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) by research groups at Emory and accompanied by letters of support by leading scientists who work with voles, 1-64. Available at http://www. genome. gov/Pages/Research/Sequencing/SeqProposals/VoleWhitePaper_and_LOS. pdf.
59. Mundell EJ (2008) 'Bonding gene' could help men stay married. The Washington Post.
60. Moss L (2003) What genes can't do. MIT Press, Cambridge.
61. Nahmias E (2005) Agency, authorship, and illusion. Conscious Cogn 14: 771-785.
62. Nahmias E (2010) Scientific challenges to free will, chapter 44. In: O'Connor T, Sandis C (eds) A companion to the philosophy of action. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 345-356.
63. Nair HM, Young LJ (2006) Vasopressin and pair-bond formation: genes to brain to behavior. Physiology 21(2): 146-152.
64. Ophir AG, Campbell P, Hanna K, Phelps SM (2008) Field Tests of cis-regulatory variation at the prairie vole avpr1a locus: association with V1aR abundance but not sexual or social fidelity. Horm Behav 54(5): 694-702.
65. Reichard UH, Boesch C (2003) Monogamy: mating strategies and partnerships in birds, humans and other mammals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
66. Rheinberger H-J, Müller-Wille S (2010) Gene. In: Edward NZ (ed) The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Spring 2010 Edition). http://plato. stanford. edu/archives/spr2010/entries/gene/.
67. Roan S (2008) Some men carry 'Commitment-Phobia' gene. Los Angeles Times, September 3. http://latimesblogs. latimes. com/booster_shots/2008/09/some-mencarry. html.
68. Roskies AL (2010) How does neuroscience affect our conception of volition? Annu Rev Neurosci 33: 109-130.
69. Ruse M (1986a) Evolutionary ethics: a phoenix arisen. Zygon J Relig Sci 21: 95-112.
70. Ruse M (1986b) Taking Darwin seriously: a naturalistic approach to philosophy. Blackwell, Oxford.
71. Wilson EO, Ruse M (1986) Moral philosophy as applied science. Philosophy 61: 173-192.
72. Silver J (2008) Men are like voles: vasopressin and bonding-marital fidelity may be affected by a vasopressin polymorphism. J Watch Psychiatry, September 29. http://psychiatry. jwatch. org/cgi/content/full/2008/929/1.
73. Searle J (2001) Rationality in action. MIT Press, Cambridge.
74. Shetty P (2008) Monogamy gene found in people. New Scientist and ABC News (September 1) and ABC News (September 2). http://www. newscientist. com/article/dn14641-monogamygene-found-in-people. html and http://abcnews. go. com/Technology/story?id=5702390&page=1.
75. Sommers T, Rosenberg A (2003) Darwin's nihilistic idea: evolution and the meaninglessness of life. Biol Philos 18: 653-668.
76. Soon C, Brass M, Heinze H, Haynes J (2008) Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain. Nat Neurosci 11: 543-545.
77. Special edition: his cheatin' genes? New science links biology, monogamy. NBC's Today Show. 3 September 2008. Retrieved from http://today. msnbc. msn. com/id/26523972/.
78. Sterelny K, Griffiths PE (1999) Sex and death: an introduction to the philosophy of biology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
79. The gene excuse: the guy can't help it; he was born that way. Pacific Sun. 30 June 2004.
80. Tierney J (2009) Anti-love drug may be ticket to bliss. New York Times, January 12. http://www. nytimes. com/2009/01/13/science/13tier. html.
81. van Fraassen BC (2007) Does god mix with science, interview by Robert Lawrence Kuhn for Closer to Truth: Cosmos, Consciousness, God (PBS television series). Video available at http://www. closertotruth. com/video-profile/Does-God-Mix-with-Science-Bas-van-Fraassen-/1373.
82. Vollmer S (2010) The divorce gene explored: should you get your partner's DNA before saying 'I do'? Psychol Today, January 3. http://www. psychologytoday. com/blog/learning-play/201001/2010-the-divorcegene-explored.
83. Wade N (2005) DNA of voles may hint at why some fathers shirk duties. New York Times, June 10. http://www. nytimes. com/2005/06/10/science/10behave. html.
84. Walum H, Westberg L, Henningsson S, Neiderhiser JM, Reiss D, Igl W, Ganiban JM, Spotts EL, Pedersen NL, Eriksson E, Lichtenstein P (2008) Genetic variation in the vasopressin receptor 1a gene (AVPR1A) associates with pair-bonding behavior in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105: 14153-14156.
85. Wang Z, Yu G, Cascio C, Liu Y, Gingrich B, Insel TR (1999) Dopamine D2 receptor-mediated regulation of partner preferences in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster): a mechanism for pair bonding? Behav Neurosci 113: 602-611.
86. Weaver I, Cervonia N, Champagne F, D'Alessio A, Sharma S, Seckl J, Demov S, Szyf M, Meaney M (2004) Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. Nat Neurosci 7: 847-854.
87. Wenger DM (2002) The illusion of conscious will. MIT Press, Cambridge.
88. Williams JR, Catania KC, Carter CS (1992) Development of partner preferences in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster): the role of social and sexual experience. Horm Behav 26: 339-349.
89. Yamamoto Y, Cushing BS, Kramer KM, Epperson PD, Hoffman GE, Carter CS (2004) Neonatal manipulations of oxytocin alter expression of oxytocin and vasopressin immunoreactive cells in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in a gender-specific manner. Neuroscience 125: 947-955.
90. Young LJ, Hammock EAD (2007) On switches and knobs, microsatellites and monogamy. Trends Genet 23(5): 209-212.
91. Young L (2009) Being human: love-neuroscience reveals all. Nature 457: 148.
92. Young L (2011) Interview for The Science Network by Roger Bingham at the one mind for research symposium: next frontier of the brain forum May 23-25 in Boston, MA. Video available at http://thesciencenetwork. org/programs/one-mind-for-research/larry-j-young-phd.
93. Zak PJ (2012) The moral molecule: the source of love and prosperity. Dutton Press, Hialeah forthcoming.
94. Zak PJ, Kurzban R, Matzner WT (2005) Oxytocin is associated with human trustworthiness. Horm Behav 48: 522-527.
95. Zarembo A (2004) DNA tweak turns vole mates into soul mates. Los Angeles Times, June 17. http://articles. latimes. com/2004/jun/17/science/sci-monogamy17.