The same neural pathways promote maternal and paternal behaviors in voles
Connection between hypothalamus and reward areas crucial for fatherly behavior
2021-07-05
(Press-News.org) Like female voles, connections between oxytocin neurons in the hypothalamus and dopamine neurons in reward areas drive parental behaviors in male voles, according to new research published in JNeurosci.
Motherhood receives most of the attention in the research world, yet in 5% of mammals -- including humans -- fathers provide care, too. The "love hormone" oxytocin plays a role in paternal care, but the exact neural pathways underlying the behavior were not known.
He et al. measured the neural activity of vole fathers while they interacted with their offspring. Oxytocin neurons connecting the hypothalamus to a reward area fired when the fathers cared for their offspring. Stimulating the oxytocin neurons increased paternal behaviors, while inhibiting them reduced paternal behaviors. Inhibiting the pathway led to decreased dopamine release in the reward area when the fathers cared for their pups. These pathways are the same ones involved in promoting maternal behavior in female animals. Understanding the pathways driving paternal care could lead to interventions for paternal postpartum depression or paternal abuse.
INFORMATION:
Paper title: Paraventricular Nucleus Oxytocin Sub-Systems Promote Active Paternal Behaviors in Mandarin Voles
About JNeurosci
JNeurosci, the Society for Neuroscience's first journal, was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 37,000 members in more than 90 countries and over 130 chapters worldwide.
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-07-05
The psychedelic drug psilocybin, a naturally occurring compound found in some mushrooms, has been studied as a potential treatment for depression for years. But exactly how it works in the brain and how long beneficial results might last is still unclear.
In a new study, Yale researchers show that a single dose of psilocybin given to mice prompted an immediate and long-lasting increase in connections between neurons. The findings are published July 5 in the journal Neuron.
"We not only saw a 10% increase in the number of neuronal connections, but also they were on average about 10% larger, so the connections were stronger as well," said Yale's Alex Kwan, associate professor of psychiatry and of neuroscience and senior author of the paper.
Previous ...
2021-07-05
A new collaborative research led by researchers from the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Ritsumeikan University, and Kyoto University found that although unlimited irrigation could increase global BECCS potential (via the increase of bioenergy production) by 60-71% by the end of this century, sustainably constrained irrigation would increase it by only 5-6%. The study has been published in Nature Sustainability on July 5.
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is a process of extracting bioenergy from biomass, ...
2021-07-05
"The number of black holes is roughly three times larger than expected from the number of stars in the cluster, and it means that more than 20% of the total cluster mass is made up of black holes. They each have a mass of about 20 times the mass of the Sun, and they formed in supernova explosions at the end of the lives of massive stars, when the cluster was still very young" says Prof Mark Gieles, from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and lead author of the paper.
Tidal streams are streams of stars that were ejected from disrupting ...
2021-07-05
Land plants - plants that live primarily in terrestrial habitats and form vegetation on earth - are anchored to the ground through their roots, and their performance depends on both the belowground soil conditions and the aboveground climate. Plants utilize sunlight to grow through the process of photosynthesis where light energy is converted to chemical energy in chloroplasts, the powerhouses of plant cells. Therefore, the amount and quality of light perceived by chloroplasts through light absorbing pigments, such as chlorophyll, is a defining factor in plant growth and health. ...
2021-07-05
MADISON, Wis. -- About 100 additional wolves died over the winter in Wisconsin as a result of the delisting of grey wolves under the Endangered Species Act, alongside the 218 wolves killed by licensed hunters during Wisconsin's first public wolf hunt, according to new research.
The combined loss of 313 to 323 wolves represents a decline in the state's wolf population of between 27% and 33% between April 2020 and April 2021. Researchers estimate that a majority of these additional, uncounted deaths are due to something called cryptic poaching, where poachers hide evidence of illegal killings.
The findings are the first estimate of Wisconsin's wolf population since the public hunt in February, which ended early after hunters ...
2021-07-05
The theory that modern society is too clean, leading to defective immune systems in children, should be swept under the carpet, according to a new study by researchers at UCL and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
In medicine, the 'hygiene hypothesis' states that early childhood exposure to particular microorganisms protects against allergic diseases by contributing to the development of the immune system.
However, there is a pervading view (public narrative) that Western 21st century society is too hygienic, which means toddlers and children are likely to be less exposed to germs in early life and so become less resistant to allergies.
In this paper, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, researchers point to four significant reasons which, ...
2021-07-05
Research published today has demonstrated the viability of 3D-printed tissue scaffolds that harmlessly degrade while promoting tissue regeneration following implantation.
The scaffolds showed highly promising tissue-healing performance, including the ability to support cell migration, the 'ingrowth' of tissues, and revascularisation (blood vessel growth).
Professor Andrew Dove, from the University of Birmingham's School of Chemistry, led the research group and is the lead author on the paper published in Nature Communications, which characterises the physical properties of the scaffolds, and explains how their 'shape memory' is key to promoting tissue regeneration. ...
2021-07-05
Flies have discriminating taste. Like a gourmet perusing a menu, they spend much of their time seeking sweet nutritious calories and avoiding bitter, potentially toxic food. But what happens in their brains when they make these food choices?
Yale researchers discovered an interesting way to find out. They tricked them.
In a study that could also help illuminate how people make food choices, the researchers gave hungry fruit flies the choice between sweet, nutritious food laced with bitter quinine and a less sweet, but not bitter, food containing fewer calories. Then, using neuroimaging, they tracked neural activity in their brains as they made these tough choices.
So which won? Calories or better taste?
"It depends on how hungry they are," said Michael Nitabach, professor of ...
2021-07-05
Researchers at Uppsala University have discovered lymph node-like structures close to the tumour in brain cancer patients, where immune cells can be activated to attack the tumour. They also found that immunotherapy enhanced the formation of these structures in a mouse model. This discovery suggests new opportunities to regulate the anti-tumour response of the immune system.
Glioma is a deadly brain tumour with a dismal prognosis. One reason why brain tumours are very hard to treat is that our immune system, which is designed to detect and destroy foreign ...
2021-07-05
Although most Canadians die from predictable causes and have health needs that can be met at home, only 20% of people receive a physician home visit in their last year of life.
To help understand the changing care needs of older adults as they age and when they might be nearing the end of their lives, a team of researchers developed the Risk Evaluation for Support: Predictions for Elder-Life in the Community Tool (RESPECT).
The calculator, which predicts death within 6 months, is based on data from more than 491 000 community-dwelling older adults who used home care in the 6-year period between 2007 and 2013.
"The RESPECT calculator allows families and their loved ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] The same neural pathways promote maternal and paternal behaviors in voles
Connection between hypothalamus and reward areas crucial for fatherly behavior