Neurochemical control of maternal behavior

描述(由申请人提供)：对新生儿给予足够的父母照顾 大多数哺乳动物成功繁殖的不可或缺的组成部分。 然而，与哺乳动物繁殖所必需的其他行为相比， 对亲本的神经通路知之甚少 行为。此应用程序通过调查 调节哺乳期大鼠母爱的神经化学底物。主 目的是确定多巴胺能通路在内侧的作用。 在这些行为中的视前区(MPOA)。对于一些口腔来说，mPOA是必要的 大鼠母性行为的组成部分，如取回幼崽和玩耍 在为人父母的行为动机中扮演一个角色。然而，这种神经化学物质 母体行为的这些方面背后的去往和离开mPOA的途径 是完全未知的。很可能孕期和孕期的激素 分娩，以及水坝在分娩后收到的幼崽的感觉提示 分娩，以一种方式影响mPOA的神经化学释放 促进母性表现。MPOA中的一种神经化学物质可能是 母性行为所必需的是多巴胺。邮政署并不是 以前被检查为多巴胺释放场所的神经站点 对于母性行为是必要的，但这可能是一种明显的可能性 因为mPOA中的多巴胺释放是其他行为和 大鼠繁殖的动机方面。有人建议，多巴胺 MPOA内的释放是母体行为开始所必需的 分娩以及正在进行的母性行为的表现 哺乳期的大鼠。特定目标1将使用高性能液体 层析(HPLC)以检测多巴胺能含量的变化 在雌性大鼠生殖周期的mPOA内 产后与幼崽的互动。《特定目标2》将使用逆行 神经解剖示踪与荧光免疫细胞化学联合应用 酪氨酸羟基酶，儿茶酚胺必需的限速酶 合成，以确定多巴胺和其他儿茶酚胺的来源 处女和哺乳期雌性大鼠的mPOA途径。具体目标3将 检查产前或产后6-羟基多巴胺(6-OHDA)损伤的影响 多巴胺能终末在mPOA发病和维持中的作用 哺乳期大鼠的母性行为。具体目标4将决定 特异性多巴胺受体亚型的药理拮抗作用 MPOA内对哺乳期大鼠产后母体行为的影响。这些 结果将为大脑控制如何养成提供亟需的洞察 行为，这是一种复杂的社会行为，通常对 在许多哺乳动物物种中存活。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Adequate parental care of neonates is an indispensable component of successful reproduction in most mammals. However, compared with other behaviors necessary for mammalian reproduction, relatively little is known about the neural pathways underlying parental behavior. This application addresses this issue by investigating the neurochemical substrates regulating maternal care in lactating rats. The main objective is to determine the role of dopaminergic pathways to the medial preoptic area (mPOA) in these behaviors. The mPOA is necessary for some oral components of maternal behavior in rats, such as retrieval of pups, and plays a role in the motivation to act parentally. However, the neurochemical pathways to and from the mPOA underlying these aspects of maternal behavior are completely unknown. It is probable that the hormones of gestation and parturition, as well as sensory cues from pups that dams receive after parturition, influence neurochemical release in the mPOA in a way that promotes maternal performance. One neurochemical in the mPOA that may be necessary for maternal behavior is dopamine. The mPOA has not been one of the neural sites previously examined as a place where dopamine release is necessary for maternal behavior, but this may be a distinct possibility because dopamine release in the mPOA is necessary for other behavioral and motivational aspects of reproduction in rats. It is proposed that dopamine release within the mPOA is necessary for the onset of maternal behavior at parturition as well as for the performance of ongoing maternal behavior in lactating rats. Specific Aim 1 will use high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to examine changes that occur in dopaminergic content within the mPOA of female rats during the reproductive cycle and during postpartum interactions with pups. Specific Aim 2 will use retrograde neuroanatomical tracing combined with fluorescence immunocytochemistry for tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme necessary for catecholamine synthesis, to determine the source of dopaminergic and other catecholaminergic pathways to the mPOA in virgin and lactating female rats. Specific Aim 3 will examine the effects of pre- or postpartum 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions of the dopaminergic terminals in the mPOA on the onset and maintenance of maternal behavior in lactating rats. Specific Aim 4 will determine the effects of pharmacological antagonism of specific dopamine receptor subtypes within the mPOA on postpartum maternal behavior in lactating rats. These results will provide much needed insight into how the brain controls nurturant behavior, which is a complex social behavior that is often critical for survival in many mammalian species.