Anatomical and functional analysis of medial preoptic area of hypothalamus, the center of mammalian parental behavior

父母行为的大脑中枢被认为位于下丘脑的内侧视前区(MPOA)。本研究表明，在亲代行为过程中，小鼠背外侧MPOA内的前连合核神经元处于激活状态。ACN含有催产素(OXT)和促甲状腺激素释放激素(TRH)免疫反应神经元。我们用OXT或TRH基因敲除小鼠和双基因敲除小鼠检测了父母的行为。以筑巢和取回幼崽行为作为评价亲子行为的指标。然而，在初步结果中，没有检测到OXT和TRH双基因敲除小鼠的父母行为有任何显著差异。今后还需要更高灵敏度的进一步研究。

The brain center of parental behavior is believed to locate in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of hypothalamus. The present study demonstrated that neurons of anterior commissural nucleus in the dorsolateral MPOA showed the activation during the parental behavior in mice. ACN contained oxytocin (OXT) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) immunoreactive neurons. We examined the parental behavior using OXT or TRH knockout mice and double knockout mice. Nest building and pup retrieving behaviors were used as an index for the evaluation of parental behavior. In the preliminary results, however, any significant difference in the parental behavior of the OXT and TRH double knockout mice could not be detected. Further studies with higher sensitivity will be needed in future.