# Investigating the role of correlated neural activity in pair bonding using prairie voles

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · 2022 · $39,259

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Romantic bonds are a fundamental part of the human experience, positively contributing to our health
and well-being by decreasing risk for physical and mental illness. A key feature of pair bonds - and social
relationships more generally - is that they are highly reciprocal, evolving as a function of ongoing feedback
from the other individual. Yet the interdependent nature of neural activity within pair bonding remains
understudied, due in part to the dearth of laboratory-amenable mammals that form selective attachments with
their mating partners. One promising metric for explaining aspects of interaction and its progression in dynamic
social contexts is interbrain synchronization, or correlation, in which the neural dynamics of two individuals
become more similar to each other as they interact. Interbrain correlation scales with relational variables; it is
stronger in romantic partners than strangers during social interaction. I have found that interbrain correlation is
also evident in prairie voles and that pair bonded voles show stronger correlations when interacting with their
partner than with a stranger. In this proposal, I will leverage modern optical tools to detect and functionally
manipulate interbrain correlation in prairie voles. In my first aim, I will perform within-animal comparisons to
determine how interbrain correlation varies across discrete behaviors and as a function of pair bonding. I will
use fiber-photometry to conduct simultaneous real-time calcium recordings in the medial prefrontal cortex of
interacting animals, and use supervised and unsupervised machine learning to conduct thorough behavioral
annotations of the interaction. Using a variety of analytical approaches, including generalized linear models, I
will delineate the relationship between pair bonding, affiliative behavior and interbrain correlation. In my second
aim, I will use synchronized real-time optogenetic stimulation in the mPFC to test whether induced interbrain
correlation can facilitate pair bond formation. Together these results will characterize the occurrence of
interbrain correlation during distinct behaviors and as a function of bond state and test the function of interbrain
correlation in pair bond formation. Such work is instrumental for determining whether therapeutic approaches
targeting interbrain correlation will be beneficial for treating disorders that impair social attachment like autism
spectrum disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10465783
- **Project number:** 1F31MH130143-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
- **Principal Investigator:** Kathleen Murphy
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $39,259
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-05-16 → 2024-11-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10465783

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10465783, Investigating the role of correlated neural activity in pair bonding using prairie voles (1F31MH130143-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10465783. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*