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Motherhood and nursing stimulate c-FOS expression in the rabbit forebrain.

2009; American Psychological Association; Volume: 123; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1037/a0016487

1939-0084

Gabriela González‐Mariscal, Angeles Jiménez, Rosario Chirino, Carlos Beyer,

Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior

Mother rabbits nurse once daily with circadian periodicity. The authors investigated brain structures involved in regulating this activity by quantifying c-FOS-immunoreactive (IR) cells in the forebrain of: (1) mothers killed on postpartum Day 1 (PPD 1) after nursing (Group 1) or not given pups (Group 2); (2) mothers killed on PPD 7 after nursing (Group 3) or not given pups on such day (Group 4); (3) unmated virgins (Group 5). Groups 1 through 4 showed similar numbers of c-FOS-IR cells in the preoptic area, an amount around three to fourfold larger than that found in virgins. Nursing increased, on PPD 1 and 7, c-FOS-IR cell number in the lateral septum and paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei. No differences were seen among Groups 1 through 5 in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. In the ventromedial hypothalamus virgins had more c-FOS-IR cells compared with Groups 1 and 2. Results suggest that specific forebrain structures participate in regulating particular aspects of rabbit maternal behavior: the POA and LS seem associated with the establishment of motherhood and the magnocellular nuclei with the occurrence of milk letdown.