Somatosensory Contributions to c-fosActivation within the Caudal Periaqueductal Gray of Lactating Rats: Effects of Perioral, Rooting, and Suckling Stimuli from Pups

Lonstein, Joseph S.; Stern, Judith M.

doi:10.1006/hbeh.1997.1416

Cited by 69 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The n. Acc. is reciprocally connected with many regions that are known to be directly involved in maternal behavior, including the preoptic area, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and periaqueductal gray (Lonstein and Stern, 1997;Numan and Sheehan, 1997). The n. Acc.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Associated with Individual Differences in Maternal Behavior in the Rat

Champagne

Chretien²,

Stevenson³

et al. 2004

J. Neurosci.

329

257

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Associated with Individual Differences in Maternal Behavior in the Rat

Champagne

Chretien²,

Stevenson³

et al. 2004

J. Neurosci.

329

257

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“…For example, there have been numerous studies that associate cPAG to be the sensorimotor integration site for nursing. c-Fos studies indicate that there is an increase of activity in the cPAG when lactating rats are nursing (Lonstein and Stern, 1997b) and lesions of the cPAG severely reduced kyphosis (for review see, (Stern and Lonstein, 2001)). Although increased activity of GABA in the cPAG severely reduces kyphosis, this could represent a dose response profile for GABA (see below).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GABA enhancement of maternal defense in mice: Possible neural correlates

Lee

Gammie

2007

Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior

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Previous studies have shown that low doses of GABA A receptor agonists facilitate maternal defense of offspring (maternal aggression), without significantly affecting other maternal behaviors. In addition, it has been demonstrated that endogenous changes in GABAergic neurotransmission occur in association with lactation. This study investigated the effects of GABA A receptor agonist, chlordiazepoxide (CDP), a benzodiazepine (BDZ), on maternal behaviors including aggression, and identified brain regions with altered activity in association with treatment. Another aim of the study was to determine whether CDP injections could prevent decreases in maternal aggression that occur with pup separation. Intraperitoneal injections of 1mg/kg of CDP significantly increased maternal defense without affecting other maternal behaviors, although a trend towards elevated nursing was noted. CDP significantly reduced c-Fos in lateral septum (LS) and caudal periaqueductal gray (cPAG) in behaviorally-experienced mice relative to vehicle-injected controls. In behaviorally-naïve subjects, CDP also decreased c-Fos in LS, but in cPAG this decrease was just above significance (p = 0.051). CDP was not sufficient to "rescue" maternal aggression when pup stimulus was removed. Overall, these studies provide further insights into the role for GABA in maternal behaviors, including aggression, and how and where BDZs may act to modulate behavior.

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“…It has been noted, however, that many sites that contain Fos- and FosB-expressing cells in maternally behaving rats also express ERα [24, 30]. This is true when maternal behavior is tested soon after parturition at a time when the dams’ behavior has recently been under the influence of estradiol [20, 21]as well as many days later when the behavior is no longer hormone-dependent [13, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]. The presence of ERα in sites with elevated Fos-ir suggests the possibility that many of these neurons co-express Fos and ERα.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In most cases, direct physical contact with pups and receipt of tactile stimulation from them is necessary for this increase in immediate early gene activity [13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]. Moreover, the genomic cascade initiated by activation of these immediate-early genes may be functionally significant for maternal behavior [28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many neural populations are stimulated during maternal behavior in lactating rats, and this activity can be visualized by immunocytochemical detection of the immediate early gene products Fos and FosB as a marker for neuronal modulation [13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]. In most cases, direct physical contact with pups and receipt of tactile stimulation from them is necessary for this increase in immediate early gene activity [13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Maternal Behavior Stimulates <i>c-fos</i> Activity within Estrogen Receptor Alpha-Containing Neurons in Lactating Rats

et al. 2000

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Estradiol and other hormones are thought to be critical for the onset, but not maintenance, of maternal behavior in rats. Maternal behavior is instead maintained postpartum by tactile stimulation that dams receive during interactions with pups, and many neural sites implicated in the control of maternal behavior show elevated c-fos activity in response to this stimulation. Many of these sites also contain neurons that express the alpha subtype of the estrogen receptor (ERα). Because of possible interactions between tactile stimulation from pups, c-fos, and ERα in the lactating rat brain, we determined if populations of cells that show increased c-fos activity after maternal behavior in lactating rats also contain ERα. Dams were separated from their pups for 48 h beginning on day 5 postpartum. On day 7 postpartum, experimental dams were reunited with pups and mother-litter interactions were observed for 60 min. Control dams received no pup stimulation. Subjects were sacrificed 60 min later and brain sections were double immunolabeled for the Fos and ERα proteins. As expected, the number of ERα-immunoreactive (ERα-ir) neurons did not differ between the two groups in the eight areas analyzed (lateral region of the lateral septum, posterodorsal medial amygdala, dorsal and ventral medial preoptic area, dorsal and ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, lateral habenula, and ventrolateral caudal periaqueductal gray). Consistent with previous reports, maternal dams had 2- to 7-fold more Fos-immunoreactive (Fos-ir) neurons in these sites compared with nonstimulated controls. Maternal dams had significantly more Fos-ir neurons that also contained ERα-ir in all sites, with the greatest increases in the ventral medial preoptic area, lateral habenula, and ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Between ∼25 and 45% of the Fos-ir cells in the sites examined also expressed ERα. Thus, a substantial number of neurons that are genomically activated during maternal behavior contain ERα, raising the possibility that the postpartum display of maternal behavior can be influenced by ERα activity.

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Somatosensory Contributions to c-fosActivation within the Caudal Periaqueductal Gray of Lactating Rats: Effects of Perioral, Rooting, and Suckling Stimuli from Pups

Cited by 69 publications

References 44 publications

Variations in Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Associated with Individual Differences in Maternal Behavior in the Rat

Variations in Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Associated with Individual Differences in Maternal Behavior in the Rat

GABA enhancement of maternal defense in mice: Possible neural correlates

Maternal Behavior Stimulates <i>c-fos</i> Activity within Estrogen Receptor Alpha-Containing Neurons in Lactating Rats

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