Lévy F, Keller M, Poindron P
Equipe Comportement, Station PRC, UMR 6175 INRA/CNRS/Université de Tours/Haras Nationaux, 37380, Nouzilly, France.
Horm Behav. 2004 Sep;46(3):284-302. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.02.005.
In mammals, olfactory cues are extensively used in many aspects of maternal care to ensure the coordination of mother-infant interactions and consequently the normal development of the offspring. Outside the period of parturition and lactation, when the young are not a behavioral priority, olfactory cues play an inhibitory role on maternal responsiveness since in most mammalian species studied so far, nonpregnant females find the odor of young aversive. On the contrary at the time of parturition, a shift in the hedonic value of infantile odors occurs so that the young now become a very potent stimulus and this sensorial processing constitutes an important part of the maternal motivational system. Moreover, infants' odors provide a basis for individual recognition by their mothers and some species (ungulates) have developed highly specialized mechanisms for processing of the infant signals. Perception of the smell of the young also regulates various aspects of maternal behavior. Dodecyl propionate, a compound released by of pup's preputial glands, has been shown to influence anogenital licking behavior, a fundamental pattern of maternal behavior in rodents. While there is no functional specificity of either the main or the accessory olfactory systems in the development of maternal behavior amongst species, it appears that only the main olfactory system is implicated when individual odor discrimination of the young is required. Neural structures, such as the main olfactory bulb, undergo profound changes when exposed to offspring odors at parturition. These changes in synaptic circuitry contribute both to maternal responsiveness to these odors, to their memorization, and to effects of long-term maternal experience.
在哺乳动物中，嗅觉线索在母性关怀的许多方面被广泛利用，以确保母婴互动的协调，从而保证后代的正常发育。在分娩和哺乳期之外，当幼崽不是行为重点时，嗅觉线索对母性反应起抑制作用，因为在目前研究的大多数哺乳动物物种中，未怀孕的雌性会觉得幼崽的气味令人厌恶。相反，在分娩时，幼崽气味的享乐价值会发生转变，幼崽现在成为一种非常强烈的刺激，这种感官处理构成了母性动机系统的重要组成部分。此外，幼崽的气味为母亲进行个体识别提供了基础，一些物种（有蹄类动物）已经进化出高度专业化的机制来处理幼崽的信号。对幼崽气味的感知也调节着母性行为的各个方面。丙酸十二酯是幼崽包皮腺释放的一种化合物，已被证明会影响舐肛行为，这是啮齿动物母性行为的一种基本模式。虽然在物种间母性行为的发展中，主嗅觉系统和副嗅觉系统都没有功能特异性，但当需要对幼崽进行个体气味辨别时，似乎只有主嗅觉系统参与其中。神经结构，如主嗅球，在分娩时接触后代气味时会发生深刻变化。这些突触回路的变化既有助于母体对这些气味的反应、记忆，也有助于长期母体经验的影响。
