One of the hormones, oxytocin, plays a role in maternal infant bonding in other species and seems to be implicated in feelings of love in humans. The other hormone, arginine vasopressin, seems to control certain typically male social behaviors in other mammals, such as aggression and courtship activities. Supplying these hormones to female and male voles that aren't from a monogamous species persuades them to behave more like their settled-down prairie cousins. Conversely, blocking the action of these hormones in prairie voles interferes with monogamous social relationships. Pathways inside the brain that make use of the neurotransmitter dopamine also seem central to the vole pairing behaviors, as does the length of a small DNA segment of unknown function.