The vital role of oxytocin—the "love hormone"—for social attachments is being called into question. More than 40 years of pharmacological and behavioral research has pointed to oxytocin receptor signaling as an essential pathway for the development of social behaviors in prairie voles, humans and other species, but a genetic study published in the journal Neuron on January 27 shows that voles can form enduring attachments with mates and provide parental care without oxytocin receptor signaling.