“…In the absence of suckling-induced quiescence, nonsuckled dams actively hover over pups more and display increased pup licking, self-grooming, and exploration (Lonstein and Stern, 1997a,b;Lonstein, Simmons, Swann, and Stern, 1998;Stern and Johnson, 1990;Stern and Lonstein, 1996;Stern, Dix, Bellomo, and Thramann, 1992). Kyphosis can also be disrupted by destruction of neural sites that transmit (dorsolateral funiculus of spinal cord; Stern, Yu, and Crockett, 1993) or receive (lateral and ventrolateral regions of the caudal midbrain periaqueductal gray (cPAG l,vl ); Lonstein and Stern, 1997a;1998;Lonstein, Simmons, and Stern, 1998) suckling inputs necessary for the mediation of this posture. In the absence of kyphosis, lesioned dams remain highly motivated to remain with the pups and nurse them, but do so in more atypical postures.…”