When the Science Hits the Fan - Monogamy, Nature Vs. Nurture?

This is a prairie vole.

This is a meadow vole.

Cute little things aren't they. Scientist have recently been studying these two particular types of voles to gain insight into whether or not there is a genetic component to monogamy.

The prairie vole is monogamous - they form life long bonds with their mate and both mates participate in the raising of their young. The meadow vole is a solitary animal who has multiple mates and does not co-parent, so to speak.

Scientists have discovered that while these voles are almost completely identical on a genetic level, changes in the expression of one gene could account for the differences in their behavior.

The gene in question is the vasopressin V1a receptor or V1aR for short. Basically, this gene codes for a protein that grabs the hormone vasopressin out of the bloodstream and targets it to different areas of the body so it can perform its function. Wherever the vasopressin receptor is expressed, vasopressin can hone in and do its job. In the body, vasopressin is known to play a role in very diverse processes including water retention, blood pressure regulation, memory formation, and tendency toward aggression. Recently, differences in the expression of the vasopressin receptor, V1aR, have been linked to differences in mating behaviors in voles. You can read the official study here.

Below are pictures of cross sections of vole brains. The one on top is from a prairie vole and the one on the bottom is from a meadow vole. The black coloring on the pictures indicates where V1aR is expressed. You can see that there is a lot more black on the prairie vole brain than on the meadow vole brain, therefore the prairie vole brain has more V1aR expressed.

Here's where things get interesting. The scientists decided to block the expression of V1aR in the brains of prairie voles. Guess what happened. The prairie voles became promiscuous! Then the scientists used some fancy schmancy science tricks to ramp up the V1aR expression in the meadow vole brains. And guess what - the meadow voles became monogamous! Pretty cool, huh?

Now before people like Mark Sanford start getting excited about this information, there is a catch. You can't blame your cheating ways on bad genes. Even the scientists that conducted this study state that a single gene could not possibly act alone to control such a complex social behavior. Like most (maybe all) things in nature, a particular outcome is the result of a combination genes and environmental influences. The bottom line is that it's complicated. But, this study does presents an interesting idea that genes can not only influence biological processes but also social interactions as well.

Stinky Feet, Phones, and Chocolate Chip Cookies

As you can tell by the title of this post, I have a couple relatively unrelated things for today:

1. Harper and I have a new game. It's called stinky feet. She takes her shoes off and then I ask her if her feet stink. She then proceeds to smell them. It's pretty funny. I took this picture in the car last night as we were sitting at a red light.

2. My mom is a teacher and she went back to work yesterday. I hate it when she goes back to work because when she's off in the summer, I can call her on my way into work in the morning. Now that she's back in school, I can't call her until after work. My morning commute is much less enjoyable without our morning conversation. So...if anyone would like to volunteer to call me in the mornings, that would be great.

3. Our new neighbors brought us some homemade chocolate chip cookies last night. So awesome. They're super nice and have 3 little boys for Harper to play with. I love our new house and our new neighborhood.

Boons!

Harper LOVES balloons - or as she likes to call them "boons". She recently acquired a couple and has become very attached to them.

I took this picture after we got home from church yesterday. Notice the death grip she has on them even though she's asleep. After I got her out of the car, I tried to lay her down for a nap. She cried until I let her sleep with one of them. Don't worry. I cut the string so she wouldn't hang herself.

This is a shot from breakfast this morning. She refused to eat until both balloons were present. Also, notice her facial expression. This is the face she makes when I tell her to smile.

Water Day

Every Thursday is water day at baby school. Harper loves all things water related so I think Thursday is her favorite day of the week. I think her teachers also like Thursday best because all the kids take really good naps after playing in the water.

Sometimes they get to eat watermelon on water day. Bonus!

Funny Videos

These videos seriously crack me up.

Personality Test

There is a quiz floating around Facebook that is supposed to tell you your Myers-Briggs personality type. I took it yesterday and was kind of surprised by the outcome. It said I was a ISTJ (Introverted-Sensing-Thinking-Judging). I took a Myers-Briggs test about a year ago and was a INTJ. So, I did what anyone would do, I took a bunch more online Myers-Briggs tests to see what I really was. Turns out I am in fact a ISTJ.

Some of my strengths are:

• responsible and dependable
• good at following through
• faithful and loyal to family and friends
• organized and systematic

Some things I may need to work on are:

• not naturally in tune with my emotions or the emotions of others
• usually don't give myself enough credit for accomplishments because I see them simply as natural fulfillments of obligations
• may take my own efforts for granted and therefore tend to take other's efforts for granted
• can become frustrated when others are not as organized or dependable

What's your personality type? You can take a test here. Then you can go here to find out more about your particular type.

What a Week

We have had a crazy last few days. Here's a rundown.

• Harper got Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease from baby school. It wasn't serious, but she did have a lot of sores in her mouth that made it really painful to eat just about everything. She's better now.
• The breaks went completely out on Rob's car. It's still not fixed yet.
• We moved into our new house. All of our stuff is technically in the house. About 20% of it is put away.
• The air conditioner in our new house magically broke right before we moved in. The temperature has been in the mid-90s for the last 5 days here in Nashville. It was literally 85-90 degrees in the house - way too hot to stay there so we have been staying with friends for the last 3 days. It took 2 repair companies and 4 days to fix it, but it's fixed and we will finally be sleeping in our new house tonight.
• Harper pooped in the bathtub for the first time ever. Enough said.

We are all a little tired. But, the good news is that things are getting better. Thanks to all of our totally awesome friends that helped with the move and especially Laurie and Ed for letting us stay at their house.