Prairie vole pups show potentiated isolation-induced vocalizations following isolation from their mother, but not their father

Vocalizations can be markers of emotional social communication. Maternal potentiation was originally described as an increased rate of vocalization by isolated rat pups following an interaction with their mothers, but not with other social companions. Here we asked if potentiation in prairie voles, a species with pair-bonding and bi-parental rearing, is parent-specific. We found that isolated, 8-11-day-old voles exhibited potentiation following reunions with the dam, but not the sire. These responses were present whether parents were anesthetized or active during the reunion. There were no significant correlations between parental behaviors during reunions and pup vocalization rates during re-isolation. The absence of potentiation to the sire contrasts to findings in bi-parentally reared rat pups, which do potentiate vocalizations to the sire. We interpret these results to be consistent with the idea that potentiation reflects disruption of mother-infant coregulation and is dependent upon the unique biology of mothering. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 58:687-699, 2016.