Partner‐seeking and limbic dopamine system are enhanced following social loss in male prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

Death of a loved one is recognized as one of life's greatest stresses, and 10%–20% of bereaved individuals will experience a complicated or prolonged grieving period that is characterized by intense yearning for the deceased. The monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) is a rodent species that forms pair bonds between breeding partners and has been used to study the neurobiology of social behaviors and isolation. Male prairie voles do not display distress after isolation from a familiar, same‐sex conspecific; however, separation from a bonded female partner increases emotional, stress‐related, and proximity‐seeking behaviors. Here, we tested the investigatory response of male voles to partner odor during a period of social loss. We found that males who lost their partner spent significantly more time investigating partner odor but not non‐partner social odor or food odor. Bachelor males and males in intact pairings did not respond uniquely to any odor. Furthermore, we examined dopamine (DA) receptor mRNA expression in the anterior insula cortex (aIC), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and anterior cingulate (ACC), regions with higher activation in grieving humans. While we found some effects of relationship type on DRD1 and DRD2 expression in some of these regions, loss of a high‐quality opposite‐sex relationship had a significant effect on DA receptor expression, with pair‐bonded/loss males having higher expression in the aIC and ACC compared with pair‐bonded/intact and nonbonded/loss males. Together, these data suggest that both relationship type and relationship quality affect reunion‐seeking behavior and motivational neurocircuits following social loss of a bonded partner. Partner loss in prairie voles elicit stress and pain behaviors. Here, we identify that loss of a pair‐bonded partner also promotes partner‐seeking behavior and increases dopamine receptor expression in motivation and emotional pain centers of the brain observed to be active during human grief. Our research reveals that relationship type and quality impact loss outcome in voles and highlights this model species for future research in exploring the role of motivational systems in the loss process.