Previous and recent maternal experiences modulate pups’ incentive value relative to a male without affecting maternal behavior in postpartum estrous rats

Agrati, Daniella; Ferreño, Marcela; Marin, Gabriella; Uriarte, Natalia; Zuluaga, María José; Fernández‐Guasti, Alonso; Ferreira, Annabel

doi:10.1016/j.jphysparis.2016.11.002

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Two complementary measures of preference were determined: (1) number of females in each group exhibiting preference for the male, the female or the neutral chambers or no preference, and (2) the total time that females spent in each chamber. Preference for a particular chamber was assigned if the female spent in this chamber more than 50% of the whole time spent in the three chambers, being this time at least 25% greater than the time spent in either of the two remaining chambers (Agrati et al., 2016, 2018; Pereira & Ferreira, 2006). In addition, locomotion was assessed by counting the total number of entries in the arms and the chambers of the maze.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increase in sexual motivation throughout adolescence in the cycling female rat

Armas

Marin

Uriarte

et al. 2021

Developmental Psychobiology

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Sexual behavior in the female rat is a highly motivated behavior first displayed during adolescence, a developmental period when neural circuits underlying motivation are not mature. This study characterizes the natural development of sexual motivation and behavior of female rats. We compared the incentive value of the male for mid‐adolescent (PNDs:39‐43), late adolescent (PNDs:49‐53), and adult (PNDs:90‐115) cycling females, using a male–female preference task and an ultrasonic vocalization emission test following exposure to a male or female stimulus animal. Furthermore, display of sexual and social behaviors during an interaction with a male or a nonreceptive female was assessed. Mid‐adolescent rats exhibited a reduced preference for the male than adults and performed less attempts to access the male. Unlike late adolescent and adult females, mid‐adolescent rats did not increase their ultrasonic vocalization emission after interacting with a male relative to a female. Although most of the sexual behavior did not differ between groups, mid‐adolescent females showed lower lordosis magnitude and higher levels of play and social investigation during a sexual interaction, giving rise to a unique behavioral profile. Present results indicate that the sexual behavior repertoire is fully displayed by mid‐adolescence, but sexual motivation is low and increases into late adolescence.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increase in sexual motivation throughout adolescence in the cycling female rat

Armas

Marin

Uriarte

et al. 2021

Developmental Psychobiology

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“…To answer this question, we assessed the relative incentive value of a male and pups for PPE rats in a male vs. pups preference task (same model presented in Figure 2A) and compared it to that of sexually active cycling mothers who did not undergo the endocrine changes of gestation (and therefore exhibit deficient maternal behavior [130]) and to that of PPE rats with previous reproductive experience (who have stronger maternal motivation [131]). While maternal virgin rats in late proestrus chose the male, PPE females preferred the pups, and this preference was stronger in multiparous rats [49,132]. Furthermore, if the maternal motivation of primiparous PPE rats was reduced (by limiting the time of interaction between mothers and their litters), they showed a strong preference for the male as opposed to the clear preference for the pups of undisturbed PPE females [132].…”

Section: Postpartum Estrus: a Unique Reproductive Period When Sexual ...mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…While maternal virgin rats in late proestrus chose the male, PPE females preferred the pups, and this preference was stronger in multiparous rats [49,132]. Furthermore, if the maternal motivation of primiparous PPE rats was reduced (by limiting the time of interaction between mothers and their litters), they showed a strong preference for the male as opposed to the clear preference for the pups of undisturbed PPE females [132]. Together, these results indicate that the incentive value of pups, which is modulated by the endocrine changes of gestation and parturition and by previous and recent maternal experiences, influences the value of the male for sexually active mothers.…”

Section: Postpartum Estrus: a Unique Reproductive Period When Sexual ...mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…As a system that promotes behavioral activation, the mesolimbic dopaminergic system has been implicated in mediating effort-related decision-making between two reinforcers [140][141][142]. In our preference task between two social reinforcers without physical access to them, PPE females not only spend more time with the pups but also make more attempts to gain access to them, which is an effort-related response [49,132]. Interestingly, antagonizing dopaminergic neurotransmission diminishes the preference for the pups over a male of PPE rats but does not affect the preference for the pups over a neutral social stimulus and for the male over a neutral social stimulus [143].…”

Section: Postpartum Estrus: a Unique Reproductive Period When Sexual ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evidence obtained so far reveals that the response of the PPE female to a sexually active male drastically changes according to the situation. She courts and attacks the male at the same time when she is in her home cage with the pups [129]; however, she courts-without aggression-when able to copulate far from the nest [72] or in a new environment [129,132], and she even ignores the male and chooses the pups in a preference test without physical access to them [132,143]. In conclusion, the incentive value of the male and the pups for the PPE rat influence one another and change depending upon the context, broadening her spectrum of possible behavioral outcomes.…”

Section: Postpartum Estrus: a Unique Reproductive Period When Sexual ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adolescence and Postpartum: Two Life Periods to Deepen Our Understanding of the Complexity of Female Rat Sexual Behavior

Agrati

2022

Sexes

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The sexual behavior of the female rat has been extensively studied and used as a model for human female sexuality. The development of models that focus on sexual interaction from the female’s perspective has demonstrated the complexity of this behavior, in which motivational and affective aspects have great relevance. This review describes, from a historical perspective, some of the studies that have shed light on this complexity and presents the potential of two periods in the female’s life to expand our understanding of sexual behavior: adolescence and postpartum estrus. Cycling adolescent female rats can express sexual behavior even though some of the underlying circuitry is still developing. Therefore, this is an ideal time for studying the ontogeny of sexual behavior, the interaction of sexual and social motivations, and the neuroendocrine changes that lead to adult behavior. Female rats also show a fertile estrus a few hours after parturition. During this period, rats are simultaneously sexually and maternally motivated, making postpartum estrus an excellent model for exploring the interaction of these two social motivations. What we know so far about female sexual behavior in these unique periods of life reaffirms its richness and shows that much remains to be known.

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Behavioral mechanisms underlying the maternal disruptive effect of serotonin 5-HT2A receptor activation in Sprague–Dawley rats

Davis

2018

J Neural Transm

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Recent evidence indicates that acute activation of 5-HT receptors causes a disruption of maternal behavior in rats. However, the behavioral mechanisms underlying such a disruption are not known. We addressed this issue using two behavioral approaches targeting the maternal motivational and emotional processing systems. First, we used the pup-separation technique to increase maternal motivation to see whether pup separation is capable of reducing the maternal disruptive effect of TCB-2 (a high-affinity 5-HT agonist) treatment. On postpartum days 4 and 6, different groups of Sprague-Dawley dams were treated with the TCB-2 (5.0 mg/kg, sc) or vehicle and their maternal behaviors were tested after either a 4-h pup-separation or no-pup-separation condition. Although acute TCB-2 injection disrupted maternal behavior, this disruption was not attenuated by pup separation, even after we optimized the timing of separation to maximize its increase on maternal motivation. Acute TCB-2 also impaired the retrieval of food pellets, suggesting a general effect on motivated behaviors. Next, we used a pup preference test and found that dams treated with TCB-2 exhibited an even stronger preference to pups over a male conspecific than vehicle-treated dams, indicating an enhanced motivational and emotional processing of the rewarding property of pups. These findings suggest that TCB-2 has a disruptive effect on rat maternal behavior, and this disruption is not likely due to the drug's effect on mothers' motivational and emotional processing of the incentive salience of pups, although this motivational suppression account cannot be completely ruled out. Future work could explore other possible behavioral mechanisms, such as the drug's effect on executive function.

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Previous and recent maternal experiences modulate pups’ incentive value relative to a male without affecting maternal behavior in postpartum estrous rats

Cited by 7 publications

References 67 publications

Increase in sexual motivation throughout adolescence in the cycling female rat

Increase in sexual motivation throughout adolescence in the cycling female rat

Adolescence and Postpartum: Two Life Periods to Deepen Our Understanding of the Complexity of Female Rat Sexual Behavior

Behavioral mechanisms underlying the maternal disruptive effect of serotonin 5-HT2A receptor activation in Sprague–Dawley rats

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