Meeting Abstract
Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) are known to modulate pairbonding, but are less appreciated for their influence on cognition, including spatial memory. While pairbonding is a key feature of monogamous mating tactics, the ability to track conspecifics in space lays the foundation for mating decisions. OT and VP represent a mechanistic link between mating tactics and space use. To examine how nonapeptides impact spatial memory, we manipulated exogenous OT and VP in prairie voles through acute or chronic doses. Prairie voles are socially monogamous rodents that demonstrate individual variation in decisions to form bonds and mate monogamously, and are a good species to ask how nonapeptides influence memory to impact mating decisions. Acute doses were administered to adults 30 min before memory testing; chronic doses were administered during post-natal development (PND 21-45 daily) and subjects were tested as adults. OT or VP was delivered intranasally to minimize invasiveness. Spatial memory was tested in the Morris water maze. Chronic VP treatment improved spatial memory compared to controls. We detected no effects of chronic OT, or acute OT or VP on spatial memory. Although VP and OT are known to impact various forms of memory, acute doses did not alter spatial memory. The organizational effects from chronic VP during development appeared to impact spatial memory. Whether the VP system itself was responsible for this memory improvement remains an open question. These data suggest that therapeutic uses of nonapeptides should be considered with caution. Ultimately, we hypothesize that individual variation in circulating VP might impact spatial memory, which may have cascading effects on mating tactics demonstrated by adults in natural contexts.
