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At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Administration of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol during pregnancy elicits modifications of maternal behavior and emotional alteration of the offspring in the rat.

Intraperitoneal administration of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (15 microg.kg(-1)) in pregnant rats, every day from day 9 to day 14 of pregnancy, elicited a high percentage of abortions. Quantification of maternal behavior showed that treated dams took better care of their pups than control dams, injected with the vehicle only, did. Postnatal reflexes, which reflect maturational rate, were established more promptly in the offspring of treated dams than in the offspring of control dams. However, when adult, the rats born from treated dams developed anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors. All these results are explained by the effects of the exogenous estrogen on the developing brain of the fetuses.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1976

Changes in the metabolism of hypothalamic norepinephrine associated with the onset of maternal behavior in the nulliparous rat.

Both norepinephrine (NE) and its major metabolite, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), were assayed both in the hypothalamus of nulliparous rats that had behaved maternally toward foster young and in the hypothalamus of those that had failed to behave maternally. It was found that the maternally-behaving animals had both lower concentrations of NE and higher concentrations of MHPG as compared with their nonresponding counterparts. These data parallel those reported for the puerperal female and suggest that the onset of maternal behavior may be mediated by increased transmission across hypothalamic noradrenergic synapses.

3-Methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethanol↗
PubMed1989

Maternal behavior in normal and androgenized female rats: effect of age and experience.

The aim of the experiments presented here was to evaluate the influence of age and of previous maternal experience on care of pups in normal virgin and androgenized Wistar female rats. When sensitization occurred before they were 60 days old, androgenized females failed to develop consistent retrieving, probably because of excessive timidity (Experiments 1 and 2) whereas they were able to keep pups warm in their nests. During pup-toy choice tests (Experiment 2) young androgenized females displayed only erratic carrying of toys. On the other hand, 60-, 80- or 100-day-old androgenized females developed full maternal behavior like cyclic controls. In the third experiment, control and androgenized females exposed to pups when 60 days old, were reexposed when 95 days old. Androgenized females proved to be more sensitive to earlier exposure to pups than control females and showed significant reductions in latencies of emergence of maternal responses.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2005

Abnormal patterns of maternal behavior in a genetic animal model of depression.

The Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) model is considered a genetic animal model of depression. Among other characteristics, FSL rats express stress-induced anhedonia and an abnormal dopaminergic system. Our hypothesis was that FSL rats would show abnormal maternal behaviors, especially reduced motivation to reach and care for pups and reduced licking and non-nutritive contact, based on their anhedonic characteristics. Mother-infant interactions were assessed by time limited observations in FSL and Sprague-Dawley (SD) controls. In study 1, differences were found in consummatory behaviors: FSL dams compared to SD dams showed less licking and significant decrease in non-nutritive contact from the first to the third postpartum weeks. In addition, shorter duration of nursing postures was seen in FSL compared to SD dams in the first week postpartum, and this difference was significantly increased by the third week postpartum. In study 2, after exposure to acute swim stress, differences emerged in appetitive behaviors: latencies to reach and care for pups were longer in FSL dams compared to controls, suggesting a stress-induced motivational deficit in FSL dams. Possible explanations, especially regarding the FSL dams' reward system are discussed.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1984

Perception of child, child-rearing values, and emotional distress as mediating links between environmental stressors and observed maternal behavior.

This observational study of 74 families investigated 3 areas of maternal psychological functioning (emotional distress, authoritarian child-rearing values, negative perceptions of children) that might mediate the relationship between 3 separate dimensions of family demographic characteristics, conceptualized as chronic environmental stressors (i.e., financial, structural, and historical circumstances), and the emotionally affective behavior of mothers. Demographic conditions accounted for 52.9% of the variance in mothers' psychological characteristics and as much as 36.6% of the variance in positive and negative behaviors to children. The psychological characteristics explained as much as 15.1% of the variance in maternal behavior. Both chronic stress and the psychological variables had an independent influence on the general emotional tone of maternal behavior. The findings provide tentative support for the conclusion that the psychological characteristics examined here partially mediate the influence of some demographic or stressful life conditions on the positive and negative behaviors of mothers.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Maternal behavior: a determinant of amphetamine toxicity in rats.

At 130 days of age, 31 female rats that had been subjected in infancy to handling, mother-separation, both, or neither, were injected with d-amphetamine (100 mg/kg, 50 mg/ml, i.p.). The subjects form handled, mother-present litters were the only group that showed increased latency to death. This finding indicated that the maternal behavior elicited by early handling, rather than early handling or maternal presence alone, resulted in reduced amphetamine toxicity in the offspring, tested in adulthood.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Microinfusion of cocaine into the medial preoptic area or nucleus accumbens transiently impairs maternal behavior in the rat.

Cocaine was microinfused bilaterally (50 microg/0.5 microl/side) into the medial preoptic area (MPOA) or nucleus accumbens (NA), 2 regions within the rat brain neural circuit known to mediate maternal behavior (MB). Additionally, 2 sites not involved in this neural circuit, the dorsal striatum and dorsal medial hippocampus, were used as control sites. Microinfusion of cocaine into the MPOA or NA impaired MB, whereas infusion into the control sites did not. MB impairment was not temporally coincident with the increased locomotor activity, also documented after cocaine infusion into the MPOA or NA, arguing strongly that impaired MB is a direct, specific effect of cocaine in these areas, not a derivative of increased motor activity. This is the first demonstration that cocaine action on single central nervous system (CNS) sites can impair MB to the same extent as systemic injections. Thus, cocaine's simultaneous effect on multiple CNS sites is not required for MB impairment.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1993

Evidence for maternal behavior as a requisite link in suckling-mediated anovulation in cows.

Some component of the suckling process inhibits LH secretion and delays postpartum ovulation in beef cows. To investigate a possible role for maternal behavior in suckling-mediated anovulation, 27 crossbred beef cows were randomly allotted to 1 of 3 groups: 1) alien (dam suckled by alien calf; n = 11); 2) own (dam suckled by own calf; n = 8); and 3) weaned (calf removed for 6 days; n = 8). Beginning 14-17 days after parturition (experimental Day 0), cows were control suckled (10 min every 6 h) in stanchions for 6 days by either their own calf or by an alien calf or were weaned. Mean LH pulse frequencies in the alien and weaned groups were similar but were elevated (p < 0.02) on experimental Days 2 and 4 compared to those in the own group. The incidence of luteal activity by experimental Day 10 was greater (p < 0.01) for the alien (72.2%) and weaned groups (75.0%) than for the own group (12.5%). Frequency of oxytocin release following suckling was greater (p < 0.01) in the own group than in the alien group (Day 2: 100% vs. 36.4%; Day 4: 100% vs. 54.6%), whereas suckling-induced release of prolactin was similar for both groups. Data provide evidence that the mother-offspring bond is an important link in suckling-mediated inhibition of LH secretion and ovulation.

Aggression↗
PubMed2004

Maternal behavior modulates X-linked inheritance of behavioral coping in the defensive burying test.

BACKGROUND: Complex behavioral traits such as coping strategies in response to stress are usually formed by genetic and environmental influences. METHODS: By exploiting the phenotypic and genotypic differences between the Wistar Kyoto (WKY) and Fischer 344 (F344) inbred rat strains, we recently identified three X chromosome-linked quantitative trait loci contributing to differences in coping strategies in the defensive burying (DB) paradigm. In this article we study the influence of postnatal maternal environment in these behaviors by characterizing the maternal behavior of these strains and the effect of cross-fostering on DB behavior of male offspring from reciprocal crossing (F1). RESULTS: Maternal behavior of WKY rats can be quantitatively characterized by less contact and more periods of neglect of their F1 pups. In contrast, F344 mothers engaged in more active behaviors such as licking/grooming and arched-back nursing. Cross-fostering male F1 pups at birth did not influence the latency to bury measure in DB; however, duration of burying and prod approaches were influenced by both genotype and maternal environment in an additive manner. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that different measures of behavioral coping in the DB paradigm are influenced by maternal environment to differing degrees and in addition by genetic factors.

Aggression↗
PubMed1993

Peripeduncular nucleus lesions in the rat: I. Effects on maternal aggression, lactation, and maternal behavior during pre- and postpartum periods.

Bilateral peripeduncular (PPN) lesions made on the seventh postpartum day (L7) with either radiofrequency (RF) current or N-methyl-d,l-aspartic acid (NMDA)/phosphate buffered saline (PBS) reduced maternal aggression (MA) and partially inhibited lactation without producing significant deficits in other items of maternal behavior (MB). RF-PPN lesions did not interfere with prolactin secretion, which suggests that there was deficient oxytocinergic activity. The deficit in MA was not due to interruption of afferent suckling input to the PPN: either thelectomizing females (day L6) or producing bilateral knifecuts in the mesencephalon (placed caudal to the level of the PPN; Day L7) had no effect on MA, but both procedures impaired lactation. Deficits in MA produced by RF-PPN lesions developed gradually between Days L4 and L7; lesions made either prepartum or on Day L1 did not impair MA or MB. Deficits in lactation first appeared after RF-PPN lesions on Day L1.

Aggression↗
PubMed1998

Expression of c-fos, fos B, and egr-1 in the medial preoptic area and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis during maternal behavior in rats.

The spatial and temporal pattern of expression of the protein products of immediate early genes (IEGs) c-fos, fos B, and egr-1 were mapped in medial preoptic area (MPOA) and ventral bed nucleus of stria terminalis (VBST) during maternal behavior in rats. Immunocytochemical analysis indicated significant increases in the number of cells expressing c-Fos after 2 h of pup exposure, while Fos B levels showed a delayed response, reaching maximal levels after 6 h.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Effects of chronic and acute cocaine treatment on the onset of maternal behavior and aggression in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Pregnant rats were treated either throughout gestation (GD 1-20) with 30 mg/kg per day (chronic cocaine) or with one 15-mg/kg dose immediately following parturition (acute cocaine). Chronic and acute cocaine treatment delayed or diminished the postpartum onset of some components of maternal behavior, and chronically treated dams were significantly more aggressive toward a male intruder than acute cocaine-treated or saline-treated dams. Cocaine increased the latency to crouch over pups and decreased crouch duration during a 30-min observation period that immediately followed parturition. Latencies to nest build were also longer in more chronic cocaine-treated dams than in saline controls. On Day 6 postpartum, 83% of chronic cocaine-treated dams pinned and attacked an intruder male 8 or more times during a 10-min observation period, whereas only 4% of acute cocaine-treated and none of the saline-treated dams exhibited this much aggression.

Aggression↗
PubMed1983

Constraint of the mother with pups restores some aspects of the maternal behavior of mutant staggerer mice.

Under normal breeding conditions, the female staggerer is unable to rear her pups. She does not care for them, does not suckle, never retrieves them, and she may even reject them. Most of the staggerer mother's offspring die within the first day. By forcing the mother to remain with foster pups for 24 hours immediately after deliver, and thereafter replacing them with older pups, maternal behavior can partly be restored. Although badly cleaned and not retrieved, 67 percent of the staggerer offspring survived under these conditions. The results obtained demonstrate considerable environmentally induced plasticity in the behavior of the staggerer mouse.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Maternal behavior of mice with cingulate cortical, amygdala, or septal lesions.

Nest building, pup retrieving, and pup survival and growth were evaluated in primiparous control mice and those with cingulate cortical, neocortical, amygdala, or septal lesions. Mice with neocortical or amygdala lesions showed little or no deficits in maternal behavior. Mice with septal lesions were severely impaired in all aspects of maternal care. These mice did not build nests, showed a variety of aberrant behaviors during pup retrieving, and their pups died or gained significantly less weight than those of controls. Mice with cingulate cortical lesions retrieved pups more slowly than controls, and retrieving deficits were correlated with the extent of retrograde degeneration found in the anterior thalamic nuclei.

Amygdala↗
PubMed2006

Weight gain and maternal behavior in CCK1 deficient rats.

The OLETF rat model of obesity has been extensively studied as an adult model of hyperphagia-induced obesity. In order to better understand the early circumstances that make OLETF pups obese, we investigated body weight from postnatal day (PND) 1 and examined diurnal maternal behavior over the first three postpartum weeks by undisturbed observations. Male and female OLETF rats weighed significantly more than LETO controls from PND 1 until adulthood. Differences in nursing behavior were observed only in the third postnatal week: OLETF dams exhibited more frequent nursing. OLETF dams displayed less self-directed behaviors and activity, over the entire postpartum period examined. Taken together, these data demonstrate that OLETF males and females are heavier from birth and suggest that maternal factors may contribute to weight differences between the strains.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2004

Neurobiological characteristics of rhesus macaque abusive mothers and their relation to social and maternal behavior.

Previous studies have reported hyperactivation of catecholaminergic systems and elevated concentrations of corticotropin-releasing-hormone (CRH) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of child maltreatment victims or combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study investigated the CSF concentrations of CRH and monoamine metabolites in rhesus macaque mothers that physically abused their infants and had themselves been abused as infants. Ten abusive mothers and 10 controls served as study subjects. All animals were sampled for CSF during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Focal observations of social and maternal behavior were also made. Abusive mothers had significantly higher CSF concentrations of CRH and 5-HIAA than controls. Across both subjects and controls, higher CRH, 5-HIAA and MHPG concentrations were associated with anti-social behavior patterns including a high frequency of maternal aggression, infant rejection, and a low frequency of contacts received from other individuals. These findings are consistent with those of previous primate and human studies and suggest that the neurobiological alterations associated with infant abuse may play an important role in the occurrence of maladaptive behavior in adulthood, including the perpetuation of infant abuse across generations.

Aggression↗
PubMed1999

Regulation of maternal behavior and offspring growth by paternally expressed Peg3.

Imprinted genes display parent-of-origin-dependent monoallelic expression that apparently regulates complex mammalian traits, including growth and behavior. The Peg3 gene is expressed in embryos and the adult brain from the paternal allele only. A mutation in the Peg3 gene resulted in growth retardation, as well as a striking impairment of maternal behavior that frequently resulted in death of the offspring. This result may be partly due to defective neuronal connectivity, as well as reduced oxytocin neurons in the hypothalamus, because mutant mothers were deficient in milk ejection. This study provides further insights on the evolution of epigenetic regulation of imprinted gene dosage in modulating mammalian growth and behavior.

Animals↗