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Neurobiology of Maternal Behavior in Nonhuman Mammals: Acceptance, Recognition, Motivation, and Rejection

2022; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 12; Issue: 24 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/ani12243589

2076-2615

Genaro A. Coria‐Ávila, Deissy Herrera‐Covarrubias, Luis I. García, Rebeca Toledo, Marı́a Elena Hernández, Pedro Paredes-Ramos, Aleph A. Corona‐Morales, Jorge Manzo,

Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Among the different species of mammals, the expression of maternal behavior varies considerably, although the end points of nurturance and protection are the same. Females may display passive or active responses of acceptance, recognition, rejection/fear, or motivation to care for the offspring. Each type of response may indicate different levels of neural activation. Different natural stimuli can trigger the expression of maternal and paternal behavior in both pregnant or virgin females and males, such as hormone priming during pregnancy, vagino-cervical stimulation during parturition, mating, exposure to pups, previous experience, or environmental enrichment. Herein, we discuss how the olfactory pathways and the interconnections of the medial preoptic area (mPOA) with structures such as nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, amygdala, and bed nucleus of stria terminalis mediate maternal behavior. We also discuss how the triggering stimuli activate oxytocin, vasopressin, dopamine, galanin, and opioids in neurocircuitries that mediate acceptance, recognition, maternal motivation, and rejection/fear.