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At least 793 records · Page 44Linked to original sources

PubMed1980

Mother-infant "bonding": failure to generalize.

Animal studies on the biological basis of mother-to-infant attachment have led to the hyphothesis that human mother-infant contact shortly after delivery may be crucial for the facilitation of such attachment. However, existing data do not clearly substantiate the influence of early contact on human maternal behavior. The present study was designed with procedural and methodological controls which were not always adequate in earlier studies and tested the hypothesis that early and enhanced contact facilitates maternal attachment behavior. 15 healthy primiparous mothers had their infants 1 hour at delivery and 90 min at each feeding; 15 received the usual hospital routine--brief contact at delivery and 30 min at each feeding. No differences in maternal behavior were obtained on 28 discrete response measures or on pooled sets of individual measures. A modest sex effect between contact conditions was found. Maternal behavior did not differ as a function of age. Factors that may account for differences obtained between this and other studies are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Deficits in plasma oxytocin responses and increased negative affect, stress, and blood pressure in mothers with cocaine exposure during pregnancy.

In animals, oxytocin enhances maternal behavior and lowers blood pressure (BP) and negative affect, while parturitional cocaine disrupts oxytocin activity and increases maternal neglect and aggression. Thus, we compared oxytocin, BP, maternal behavior, and affect in mothers of infants who used cocaine (cocaine, n = 10) or did not (no drug, n = 25) during pregnancy. Laboratory BP and circulating oxytocin, catecholamines, and cortisol were examined before and during a speech stressor on 2 days, with vs. without prestress baby holding. Ambulatory monitoring assessed BP, urinary norepinephrine, and cortisol for 24 h at home. The cocaine group had lower oxytocin levels, greater hostility and depressed mood, less support from others and mastery over life events, higher BP during all events of testing without the baby, and higher ambulatory BP and urinary norepinephrine at home, while cortisol and epinephrine responses were blunted. Although they tended to hold their babies less often at home, baby holding in the laboratory led to decreased BP in cocaine mothers who then did not differ from no-drug mothers in BP or observed affect.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Spontaneous fetal behavior after maternal exposure to ethanol.

Acute and chronic intubations of ethanol to pregnant rats produced changes in spontaneous fetal behavior four hours later. Fetuses from mothers in intermediate alcohol groups (4 and 6 g/kg) were substantially less active than controls (0 g/kg), but fetuses from low (2 g/kg) and high (8 g/kg) alcohol groups showed little indication of behavioral suppression. Circulating levels of alcohol in maternal blood, fetal homogenate and amniotic fluid at the time fetuses were observed confirmed that fetuses were exposed to alcohol in utero, but the measured concentrations of alcohol were not predictive of fetal activity. We suggest that some of the developmental consequences of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome may be the consequence of fetal inactivity induced by alcohol in utero.

Amniotic Fluid↗

PubMed1987

Hormonal factors influence the onset of maternal aggression in laboratory rats.

This experiment addressed the hypothesis that aggressiveness toward conspecifics is stimulated by hormonal factors known to mediate the onset of maternal care. Subjects included both pregnant and virgin females. Sixteen-day pregnant rats were hysterectomized (H), hysterectomized-ovariectomized and injected with estrogen (HO-EB), or subjected to sham procedures. Nonpregnant females were HO-EB or sham operated. The females were sensitized by continuous exposure to pups and were judged to have initiated maternal care when all pups were retrieved and grouped, Aggressiveness was observed during 5-min intruder tests using unfamiliar males, administered (a) 10 min prior to the introduction of test pups, (b) following the first 3 hr of pup exposure, and (c) after females had initiated maternal care. The results revealed that treatments known to reduce sensitization latencies also increased aggressiveness even prior to exposure to pups. Aggressiveness was displayed before sensitization only in groups having elevated estrogen levels. After initiating maternal behavior, pregnant and pregnancy-terminated females increased further in aggressiveness whereas nonpregnant females did not. Pregnancy-terminated, HO-Oil females became aggressive (only) after initiating maternal behavior, indicating that factors other than estrogen also influence the onset of maternal aggression.

Aggression↗

PubMed1999

Hormonal changes in males of a naturally biparental and a uniparental mammal.

Blood samples from male hamsters (Phodopus) during their mate's gestation and early lactation show that key hormones important in maternal behavior are also changing in males and differ for two closely related species with different levels of paternal care. Results of study 1 were consistent with a relationship between higher prolactin, lower testosterone and paternal behavior during early lactation in P. campbelli and provided no evidence for similar hormonal changes in P. sungorus. Study 2 sampled males before or after the birth. Prolactin did not increase until at least one day after the birth in P. campbelli but was high at the end of the pregnancy in P. sungorus. Increasing testosterone concentrations in P. campbelli as the birth approached were consistent with mate guarding, high testosterone concentrations on L5 were consistent with paternal aggression in defense of the litter, and the drop in testosterone after the birth was consistent with reduced aggression toward the new pups. Results confirmed that cortisol concentrations were reduced following the establishment of a pair-bond and found that P. campbelli males had elevated cortisol before the birth. Results support the hypothesis that mammalian paternal behavior has a hormonal basis which is analogous to maternal behavior.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Maternal motivation of lactating rats is disrupted by low dosages of haloperidol.

Motorically-active maternal behaviors of rats, such as retrieval and licking of pups, are known to be reduced or suspended following systemic injection of > or = 0.2 mg/kg haloperidol (HAL), a dopamine (DA) receptor blocker. Further, when these behaviors are thwarted by muzzling, dams persistently attempt to make snout contact with pups by pushing them with the muzzle, indicative of intense maternal motivation. To evaluate whether time spent contact-seeking by muzzle-pushing is impaired by dosages of HAL too low to reduce retrieval and licking of pups, dams were fitted with a full muzzle (FM), given 0, 0.05 or 0.10 mg/kg HAL, and reunited with their pups for 30 min after a 4-h separation. Similarly-treated dams fitted with a control muzzle, which allows perioral contact with pups, displayed essentially normal maternal behavior. In FM dams, low dosages of HAL severely and dose-dependently reduced muzzle-pushing, as well as actual contact by handling-touching and moving pups with their paws, although the latency to initiate these behaviors by responders was not impaired. A threshold level of DA is apparently necessary for efficient motor control (handling) and for maternal incentive, persistent effort to achieve contact with pups (muzzle-pushing), consistent with an arousal explanation of the action of DA.

Anesthesia↗

PubMed1980

Effects of 6-hydroxydopamine and amphetamine on rat mothering behavior and offspring development.

Selective CNS dopamine depletion was produced in neonatal female rats by administration of 6-hydroxydopamine and desmethylimipramine. These rats were subsequently tested as adults for maternal behavior toward their own offspring and received d-amphetamine prior to half of these sessions. The effects of early, selective CNS dopamine depletion and its related developmental disruptions on later care of offspring and response to amphetamine were thereby assessed. Pup retrieval, nest building, crouching, and locomotor behaviors were studied in 6-OHDA + DMI treated mothers while offspring were examined with respect to weight, density of fur, age of eye opening, and shuttlebox avoidance learning. Depletion of brain dopamine to 30% of control concentrations was associated with increased crouching time but with no other differences in caregiving, offspring development, or response to amphetamine. Although profound neonatal depletion of dopamine leads to a variety of disturbances in early life, later maternal behavior is adequate and apparently enhanced. The possible role of compensatory brain mechanisms is discussed.

Amphetamine↗

PubMed2006

The effect of 5-HT(2a/2c) receptor agonist microinjected into central amygdaloid nucleus and median preoptic area on maternal aggressive behavior in rats.

OBJECTIVE: Much evidence supports the hypothesis that 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) activation is related to the inhibition of aggression. We examined potentially pro- and anti-aggressive effects of the 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor agonist on specific brain sites. METHOD: Female Wistar rats on the 7th day postpartum were microinjected with the selective 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor agonist, alpha-methyl-5-hydroxytryptamine maleate (0.2 to 1.0 microg/0.2 microl) into the central amygdaloid nucleus and median preoptic nucleus. For each brain area studied, the frequency of the behaviors: locomotion, social investigation, lateral threat, attacks (frontal and lateral), and biting the intruder were compared among the various treatments by an Analysis of Variance, followed when appropriate, by Tukey's test. RESULTS: Microinjection of the selective 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor agonist, a-methyl-5-hydroxytryptamine maleate into central amygdaloid nucleus increased maternal aggression in the absence of concurrent changes in non-aggressive behavior. By contrast, microinjection of the selective 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor agonist at several dilutions into the median preoptic nucleus did not alter aggressive behavior. CONCLUSIONS: The current and earlier data with pro- and anti-aggressive effects of the 5-HT(2a/2c) receptor agonist, when microinjected into the median preoptic nucleus relative to the central amygdaloid nucleus, medial septum and periaqueductal grey area in female rats point to functionally separate serotonin receptor populations in the amygdaloid-septal-hypothalamic and periaqueductal gray matter areas controlling aggressive behavior. It is possible that amygdaloid 5-HT(2a/2c) receptors may increase aggressive behavior in lactating females as a result of changes in fear.

Aggression↗

PubMed1994

Expression of Fos-like immunoreactivity in the preoptic area of maternally behaving virgin and postpartum rats.

This study uses Fos immunocytochemistry to show that the medial preoptic area and ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis are activated in maternally behaving female rats. In Experiment 1, virgin female rats that showed maternal behavior toward pups had more cells in these regions that expressed Fos-like immunoreactivity than did virgin females that were not maternally responsive. In Experiment 2, postpartum rats that were exposed to pups and showed maternal behavior had more Fos-labeled cells in these regions than did postpartum rats exposed to candy. Evidence also indicated that functional modifications in the medial amygdala were related to the changes in Fos expression observed in the preoptic area and ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.

Amygdala↗

PubMed1991

Maternal feeding behavior and child acceptance of food during diarrhea, convalescence, and health in the central Sierra of Peru.

Feeding patterns by mothers and child acceptance of food were measured in a Peruvian village to determine changes on days when children had diarrhea as compared to days of convalescence and health. Morbidity surveillance identified 40 children, aged 4-36 months, with diarrhea. Children were followed using twelve-hour in-home structured observations during two to four days each of diarrhea, convalescence, and health. Using scales of maternal encouragement to eat and child acceptance of food and cumulative logistic regression analyses, maternal encouragement to eat decreased significantly during convalescence compared to diarrheal days (OR: 0.54, 90% CI: 0.35, 0.82) and health compared to diarrhea (OR: 0.65, 90% CI: 0.46, 0.93). In contrast, child acceptance of food increased during health compared to diarrhea (OR: 1.55, 90% CI: 1.02, 2.35). Results illustrate the importance of carefully examining the behavioral aspects of nutritional intake. Decreases in intake during diarrhea are due to anorexia and not withdrawal of food by mothers. In response to reductions in child appetite during illness, mothers are more likely to encourage children to eat, while they tend to become more passive feeders after the diarrhea has stopped. Program efforts should focus on messages to feed children more actively especially after diarrhea episodes, when appetite levels increase.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Alterations in supraoptic nucleus ultrastructure of maternally behaving virgin rats.

Adult, nulliparous female rats were induced to behave maternally via constant cohousing with rat pups. After exhibiting maternal behaviors for 3 days, the animals were transcardially perfused, the supraoptic nuclei (SON) excised and examined quantitatively by transmission electron microscopy. Relative to virgin controls, the animals behaving maternally were found to have significant increases in: a) mean number of dendrites in large (9-12) dendritic bundles, b) mean area per single dendritic profile, c) area of the dendritic zone occupied by dendritic profiles and d) size of the dendritic zone. No significant changes were observed in the cell body zone or in the number of double synapses in the dendritic region. The observed changes are likely to be at least in part associated with the oxytocin-containing cells of the SON. These observations suggest a role for the SON in promoting maternal behaviors and constitute a novel demonstration of a neural modification in the mammalian central nervous system that appears conjointly with a complex set of behaviors.

Animal Husbandry↗

PubMed1990

Follow-up of hard-to-manage preschoolers: adjustment at age 9 and predictors of continuing symptoms.

Hard-to-manage preschoolers and controls, studied initially at age 3 and followed up at school entry, were followed up again at age 9. Maternal interviews indicated that 67% of the hard-to-manage preschoolers who showed clinically significant problems at age 6 met DSM-III criteria for an externalizing disorder at age 9. Maternal and teacher ratings confirmed the diagnostic data. Hard-to-manage youngsters who had improved by age 6 did not differ from comparison children on maternal or teacher reports. Regression analyses indicated that earlier child behavior, maternal behavior, symptom ratings, and ongoing family stress predicted current symptoms of disorder.

Aggression↗

PubMed2006

Effects of daily and acute restraint stress during lactation on maternal aggression and behavior in mice.

A decreased reactivity to stressors during lactation might heighten the expression of maternal care (including defense of offspring) by minimizing the extent to which stress can impact maternal care. Although stressors applied during pregnancy have variable effects on maternal aggression (or defense of offspring), to date no study has examined the effects of stress applied during the postpartum period on maternal aggression. In this study, we examined the effects of both daily and acute restraint stress (30 min) applied postpartum on maternal aggression and other maternal behaviors. Daily restraint (ending 2 h before testing) did not alter any measure of maternal behavior, including nursing, licking and grooming of pups and pup retrieval, or any measure of maternal aggression. In contrast, acute stress significantly impaired total time aggressive and number of attacks, but pup retrieval was normal. c-Fos levels were significantly elevated in a number of brain regions in association with acute stress, including lateral septum (LS), caudal periaqueductal gray and medial amygdala (MeA), suggesting possible sites where stress reactivity could alter aggression. Together, the results indicate that acute restraint stress impairs maternal aggression and provide a starting point for future studies examining how stress reactivity pathways may intersect with maternal aggression pathways.

Aggression↗

PubMed1982

Maternal drinking behavior and decreased intrauterine growth.

Reduced intrauterine growth has been a widely observed effect of maternal alcohol use during pregnancy in both animals and humans, although results in studies of humans have been inconsistent. The goal of this prospective study was to evaluate the relative importance of volume, frequency, and beverage source of alcohol as determinants of infant birthweight, while adjusting for other known determinants using multivariate techniques. In a sample of 5,093 maternal-infant pairs, 44 potential determinants of intrauterine growth were evaluated. The frequency of beer drinking, controlled for wine drinking, liquor drinking, and other variables, was found to contribute independently to a reduction of intrauterine growth, as measured by birthweight adjusted for gestational age. Of the variables explored, 11, including cigarette smoking and caffeine intake, were found to contribute significantly (R2 = 32%; p less than 0.001) to the variance. The effect of beer drinking was most apparent in the most frequently drinking 3% of gravidas. These results appear to confirm a previous suggestion that heavy beer drinking during pregnancy is related to decreased intrauterine growth, but should be interpreted cautiously since there are several alternative explanations for the finding. Thus, these results suggest several areas for further investigation.

Adult↗

PubMed1985

Incidence of pup killing and parental behavior in virgin female and male rats (Rattus norvegicus): differences between Wistar and Sprague-Dawley stocks.

The responses toward young shown by males and nulliparous females differed substantially between two outbred stocks of laboratory rats. Sprague-Dawley females showed maternal behavior either spontaneously (35% of the naive rats) or through concaveation (92% of the initially neutral virgins). Of the Wistar females, however, only 10% showed maternal behavior spontaneously, and only 29% of the neutral virgins came to behave maternally during 15 days of concaveation. Prepubertal cohabitation with lactating rats did not facilitate maternal responsiveness in adulthood in the Wistar virgin females. Of the Sprague-Dawley males, 50% showed paternal behavior spontaneously, and only 4% killed the young. Among the Wistar males, however, only 4% showed paternal behavior spontaneously, and 76% killed pups. Such profound differences between outbred stocks of rats may be a source of discrepancies between the results of studies dealing with the induction of parental behavior in nonlactating rats.

Aggression↗

PubMed2001

Ritualistic behavior in young children.

The aim of this study was to examine ritualistic behavior at its developmental peak. Children 20-59 months of age were sampled through a national system of daycare centers in Israel (N = 228). The order of onset of the ritual behaviors measured was virtually identical to that reported for an American sample (D. W. Evans et al., 1997). Gender and age effects were found for fearfulness but not for ritualistic behavior. Maternal reports of ritualistic behavior were highly correlated with reported fears, and with shy and emotional temperament. Mothers of the children who were in the top 10% in their use of rituals according to maternal report, worried about their child's ritualistic behavior, even though maternal worry was not correlated with ritualistic behavior for the whole distribution.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed1981

Species-typical behavior of hamsters deprived from birth of the neocortex.

Hamsters deprived from birth of the neocortex developed normally and displayed the usual hamster-typical behavioral patterns. With the additional concurrent destruction of midline limbic convolutions (cingulate and underlying dorsal hippocampal), there were deficits in maternal behavior and a lack of development of play behavior. These findings demonstrate in a rodent (i) that the striatal complex and limbic system, along with the remaining neuraxis, are sufficient for giving expression to a wide range of unlearned forms of species-typical behavior and (ii) that midline limbic structures are required for the expression of play behavior and the integrated performance of maternal behavior.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Prenatal versus postnatal effects on offspring weight gain of rats exposed to diphenhydramine: a critical evaluation of fostering procedures in rats.

1. In order to evaluate the relative contribution of fostering procedures in the analysis of the development of rats prenatally exposed to diphenhydramine (20 mg/kg/day, sc) the weight gain of litters fostered or not by their biological mothers were examined from 2-21 days of age. 2. Maternal behavior and milk production were also assessed. 3. The results showed a decreased weight gain only in offspring fostered by mothers from different prenatal treatments and a lack of effects on maternal behavior and milk production. 4. It was concluded that the reduced weight of cross-fostered litters was mediated through an interference with postnatal mother-offspring interaction, which was not herein identified.

Animals↗