About

Dr. Alexander G. Ophir is a Professor and Principal Investigator at Cornell University in the Department of Psychology, within the Division of Behavioral & Evolutionary Neuroscience. His research focuses on the proximate and ultimate influences on social behavior, investigating individual variation in genes, brain, and behavior. Key areas of his work include monogamy and social attachment, alternative reproductive tactics, parental care, early life social influences on development, social and spatial memory, mate choice, animal communication, and reproductive decision-making. Dr. Ophir's integrative approach combines behavioral neuroscience with evolutionary perspectives to understand the biological and environmental factors shaping social behaviors across species.

Research topics

• Biology
• Evolutionary biology
• Genetics
• Psychology
• Ecology
• Neuroscience
• Communication
• Cognitive psychology
• Endocrinology
• Developmental psychology
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Beyond Song—An Investigation of Song and Social Preferences in a Monogamous Songbird

  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026-03-01

  article

  Courtship is often viewed as a linear process where males display and female assessment of this display shapes her mating decisions. However, communication can be far more dynamic and interactive, particularly in species that develop long-term relationships. Interactional complexity is not well captured by traditional models of animal communication. Here, we tested whether interactional elements shape female preferences in the monogamous zebra finch. We used selective calling as a measure of female preference. First, we asked whether females' most-preferred song (based on passive song playback) matched her most-preferred male (based on a live interaction). We found a mismatch in the preferences for song versus live males, and female preferences for a live male did not appear to be linked to how much he sang. Next, to experimentally manipulate male responsiveness, we habituated females to the song of their most-preferred or least-preferred male. This song habituation caused females to change their preferences differently depending on whether they were habituated to their most- or least-preferred male. Together, these results highlight that additional interactional elements, beyond male song, impact female social preferences. More broadly, our results contribute to growing evidence that models of communication should incorporate interactional and distributed elements.

  PublisherDOI

• Elevated ambient temperature reduces parental contact and alters caregiving posture in biparental prairie voles

  Animal Behaviour · 2026-05-22

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Adolescent social instability stress alters social processes in male prairie voles

  Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · 2026-02-24

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Adolescence is a sensitive period for the maturation of neural circuits governing goal-directed social behaviors and stress regulation. Disruption of stable social relationships during adolescence can alter neuropeptide and dopaminergic systems that shape adult social behaviors. We investigated the behavioral and neurobiological consequences of adolescent social instability stress (SIS) in male prairie voles ( Microtus ochrogaster ), a species that forms selective social bonds between peers, mating partners, and parents and their offspring. During adolescence, SIS subjects experienced repeated reshuffling of cage mates to disrupt stable peer bonds, while control (CTL) subjects remained in fixed pairs. Home cage observations after and right before each reshuffling revealed that SIS subjects exhibited reduced affiliative contact and sustained social investigation compared to CTL subjects, despite no group differences in body weight throughout adolescence. Moreover, SIS and CTL groups did not differ in social zone duration or latency to approach a novel conspecific during the social approach test (SAT). Stress phenotypes were classified by assessing the duration of social zone occupancy during the SAT under baseline and stimulus-present conditions. Remarkably, all SIS subjects expressed a consistent stress resilient phenotype in contrast to CTL subjects whose responses were more variable, spanning both stress resilient and susceptible phenotypes. Gene receptor expression analyses revealed no group differences in oxytocin ( Oxtr ), arginine vasopressin ( Avpr1a ), and dopamine ( Drd1 and Drd2 ) gene expression within the lateral septum (LS), nucleus accumbens (NAc), or anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), brain regions important for modulating goal-directed social behaviors and stress responses. However, correlation analyses indicated distinct relationships between gene receptor expression and social behaviors across groups, including a negative association between LS- Avpr1a expression and the latency to approach a novel conspecific in only CTL subjects. Additionally, associations between ACC- Drd2 expression and the latency to approach a stimulus were in opposing directions between groups. Correlation analyses solely between gene receptor expression revealed the loss of oxytocin-dopamine receptor coupling in the LS and ACC of SIS but not CTL subjects. Together, these findings suggest that adolescent SIS does not globally suppress social behavior but instead may reorganize social reward circuitry to promote behavioral flexibility and stress resilience.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The effect of vasotocin on social recognition in juvenile bluetongue skinks

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Episodic memory and reproductive condition could independently influence the pair bond maintenance in the male prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster): Ecological implications and translational relevance in the study of sub-clinical manifestations of schizophrenia

  Behavioural Brain Research · 2025-05-21

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Effects of short-term isolation on vocal and non-vocal social behaviors in prairie voles

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-08-02 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen accessCorresponding

  Abstract Social isolation affects the brain and behavior in a variety of animals, including humans. Studies in traditional laboratory rodents, including mice and rats, have supported the idea that short-term social isolation promotes affiliative social behaviors, while long-term isolation promotes anti-social behaviors, including increased aggression. Whether the effects of isolation on the social behaviors of mice and rats generalize to other rodents remains understudied. In the current study, we characterized the effects of short-term (3-days) social isolation on the vocal and non-vocal social behaviors of adult prairie voles ( Microtus ochrogaster ) during same-sex and opposite-sex social interactions. Our experiments revealed that short-term isolation did not affect rates of ultrasonic vocalizations or time spent in non-aggressive social behaviors and huddling. In contrast, short-term isolation affected aggression in a sex- and context-specific manner during male-male interactions. Our findings highlight the importance of comparative work across species and the consideration of social context to understand the diverse ways in which social isolation can impact social behavior.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Characterization of oxytocin and vasopressin receptors in the Southern giant pouched rat and comparison to other rodents

  Frontiers in Endocrinology · 2024-05-13 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Vasopressin and oxytocin are well known and evolutionarily ancient modulators of social behavior. The distribution and relative densities of vasopressin and oxytocin receptors are known to modulate the sensitivity to these signaling molecules. Comparative work is needed to determine which neural networks have been conserved and modified over evolutionary time, and which social behaviors are commonly modulated by nonapeptide signaling. To this end, we used receptor autoradiography to determine the distribution of vasopressin 1a and oxytocin receptors in the Southern giant pouched rat ( Cricetomys ansorgei ) brain, and to assess the relative densities of these receptors in specific brain regions. We then compared the relative receptor pattern to 23 other species of rodents using a multivariate ANOVA. Pouched rat receptor patterns were strikingly similar to hamsters and voles overall, despite the variation in social organization among species. Uniquely, the pouched rat had dense vasopressin 1a receptor binding in the caudate-putamen (i.e., striatum), an area that might impact affiliative behavior in this species. In contrast, the pouched rat had relatively little oxytocin receptor binding in much of the anterior forebrain. Notably, however, oxytocin receptor binding demonstrated extremely dense binding in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, which is associated with the modulation of several social behaviors and a central hub of the social decision-making network. Examination of the nonapeptide system has the potential to reveal insights into species-specific behaviors and general themes in the modulation of social behavior.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Neuroendocrine Mechanisms Underlying Reproductive Decision Making Across Taxa

  Masterclass in neuroendocrinology · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Re‐wiring of the bonded brain: Gene expression among pair bonded female prairie voles changes as they transition to motherhood

  Genes Brain & Behavior · 2024-06-01 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Motherhood is a costly life-history transition accompanied by behavioral and neural plasticity necessary for offspring care. Motherhood in the monogamous prairie vole is associated with decreased pair bond strength, suggesting a trade-off between parental investment and pair bond maintenance. Neural mechanisms governing pair bonds and maternal bonds overlap, creating possible competition between the two. We measured mRNA expression of genes encoding receptors for oxytocin (oxtr), dopamine (d1r and d2r), mu-opioids (oprm1a), and kappa-opioids (oprk1a) within three brain areas processing salience of sociosensory cues (anterior cingulate cortex; ACC), pair bonding (nucleus accumbens; NAc), and maternal care (medial preoptic area; MPOA). We compared gene expression differences between pair bonded prairie voles that were never pregnant, pregnant (~day 16 of pregnancy), and recent mothers (day 3 of lactation). We found greater gene expression in the NAc (oxtr, d2r, oprm1a, and oprk1a) and MPOA (oxtr, d1r, d2r, oprm1a, and oprk1a) following the transition to motherhood. Expression for all five genes in the ACC was greatest for females that had been bonded for longer. Gene expression within each region was highly correlated, indicating that oxytocin, dopamine, and opioids comprise a complimentary gene network for social signaling. ACC-NAc gene expression correlations indicated that being a mother (oxtr and d1r) or maintaining long-term pair bonds (oprm1a) relies on the coordination of different signaling systems within the same circuit. Our study suggests the maternal brain undergoes changes that prepare females to face the trade-off associated with increased emotional investment in offspring, while also maintaining a pair bond.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Dorsal CA1 lesions of the hippocampus impact mating tactics in prairie voles by shifting non-monogamous males’ use of space to resemble monogamous males

  Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · 2024-02-26

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Alternative mating tactics within mating systems are characterized by discrete patterns of spatio-temporal overlap with same-and opposite-sex conspecifics and mating-relevant outcomes. Socially monogamous "residents" maintain relatively small home range sizes, have territories that almost exclusively overlap with their mating partners, and are more likely to produce offspring than non-bonded "wandering" conspecifics. Because mating tactics appear to be so closely tied to patterns of space use, differences in spatial cognitive abilities might differentially impact individual males' decisions to adopt a particular mating tactic and/or how efficient they are within their chosen mating tactic. Yet few studies have considered how the hippocampus, a brain region important for encoding cognitive maps and for processing contextual information, might impact how individuals adopt mating tactics or the spatio-temporal behaviors closely associated with them. We assessed the impact of lesions to the dorsal CA1 (dCA1) region of the hippocampus on male prairie vole space use, reproductive success, and mating tactics in semi-natural outdoor field conditions. Interestingly, dCA1 lesions did not impact the proportion of males that adopted resident or wandering mating tactics, and dCA1 lesions did not impact a male's ability to form a pair bond in the lab. In contrast, we found that lesioning the dCA1 shifted the home range size of reproductively successful and unsuccessful males. Furthermore, we found that patterns of space use among residents were unaffected by dCA1 lesions, whereas wanderers with dCA1 lesions showed pronounced reductions of their space use habits and resembled non-lesioned residents. Collectively, our study supports the hypothesis that wanderer male prairie voles rely on dCA1-mediated spatial cognition to navigate their world in a way that resident males do not. Such differences might have implications for how individuals efficiently attract and defend mates, obtain resources, defend territories, and outcompete rivals.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Influences of paternal and maternal care on offspring social cognition

  NIH · $1.3M · 2015–2020

• NIH Grant R15HD065604

  NIH · $388k · 2013

• Do neuropeptides shape alternative mating tactics and reproductive success through effects on memory?

  NSF · $630k · 2014–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Steven M. Phelps

  The University of Texas at Austin

  21 shared

• Angela R. Freeman

  Salisbury University

  13 shared

• Marissa A. Rice

  New York State University College of Human Ecology

  12 shared

• Lindsay L. Sailer

  Cornell University

  11 shared

• Andrew N. Hogan

  National Human Genome Research Institute

  10 shared

• Adam B. Salmon

  The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

  10 shared

• Kim M. Parsons

  NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service

  10 shared

• Elaine A. Ostrander

  National Institutes of Health

  10 shared

Labs

• Ophir LabPI

Awards & honors

• Psychologist receives NSF grant to study the social brain