Maternal “Imprinting” in Goats: fostering of alien young

Abstract

Zusammenfassung Vertauscht man ein Ziegenkitz unmittelbar nach der Geburt, so wird ein 1 bis 28 Tage altes fremdes nach 5‐minütigem Kontakt mit der Geiß von dieser angenommen. Mütterliches Verhalten wird also nicht nur von speziellen Geruchsreizen des eigenen oder neugeborenen Jungen ausgelöst, obwohl solche eine Rolle spielen und das Junge anziehender machen. Möglich wäre, daß die gesteigerte Oxytocin‐Ausschüttung während der Erweiterung des Gebärmutterhalses im Hypothalamus oder anderswo gelegene, fürs Mutterverhalten wichtige Stellen aktiviert.

An Allostatic Theory of Oxytocin

“…The physiological role of oxytocin in parturition was well known at the time. However, in what was then an unorthodox idea, the Klopfers speculated that 'this hormone [oxytocin], which apparently brings on the final uterine spasms which deliver the kid, is also implicated in the induction of maternal behavior' ( [70], p. 865). This prescient conclusion regarding the role of oxytocin in mammalian social behavior was confirmed by research decades later.…”

“…In terms of proximate explanations, the location of oxytocin receptors in the brain [47,118], and the combination of axonal and dendritic oxytocin release in the brain [88,92], support varied behaviors underlying sensation, reaction, learning, and prediction. In addition, the role of oxytocin in early-life learning [70,98,115,119] and its changing function over the lifetime [83,109,111,117,118] reflect how this neuropeptide supports flexible behaviors and shifting demands depending on the life-period.…”

“…In addition, these results are categorized by how they primarily relate to the four key elements of our proposed allostatic model (response, sensing, learning, and prediction; Figure1) within the two main characteristics of an allostatic system: set-point adjustment and anticipation. (See[2,[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][47][48][49][50][52][53][54][55][56][57][59][60][61][63][64][65][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][80][81][82][83][84][85][89][90][91][92][93][95][96][97]…”

Developmental Perspectives on Oxytocin and Vasopressin

“…Peter Klopfer (Klopfer and Klopfer, 1968;Klopfer, 1971) first proposed a role for oxytocin in the brain to modulate adult social behavior, specifically the transition to maternal behavior in goats. Testing that hypothesis, Pedersen and Prange (1979) showed in rats that, in an estrogen-dependent manner, oxytocin acting in the brain facilitated the transition to maternal behavior (pup grouping, licking, crouching, nest building, and pup retrieval).…”

Delivering Clinically on Our Knowledge of Oxytocin and Sensory Stimulation: The Potential of Infant Carrying in Primary Prevention

“…OT has long been known to be implicated in basic female reproductive events, such as birth ( Dale, 1906 , 1909 ) and breastfeeding ( Ott and Scott, 1910 ). That OT could have a role in modulating social behavior during the transition to maternal behavior in the goat was first proposed by Klopfer and Klopfer (1968) and Klopfer (1971) . Pedersen and Prange (1979) and Pedersen et al (1982) tested that hypothesis by intercerebroventricular injections of OT in virgin rats, which, in an estrogen-dependent manner, stimulated the onset of full maternal behavior.…”