Photo Post #1: Pair Bonding

When I visited Le Centre Pompidou, I came across this sculpture of a man hugging a girl who is kissing another man. I was quick to assume that the sculpture depicted an unfaithful situation, but then I got to thinking about pair bonding in prairie voles. Prairie voles, as compared to montane voles, have a higher concentration of oxytocin (in females) and vasopressin (in males) receptors that facilitate the formation of a strong partner preference. Although humans also have the ability to bond, they don’t share the same mechanisms with prairie voles. The science could argue that humans are more willing and able to break bonds than voles – not something most would expect.

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