Peterson G, Mason G A, Barakat A S, Pedersen C A
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7250.
Behav Neurosci. 1991 Jun;105(3):470-7. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.105.3.470.
Preweanling rats exhibit components of maternal behavior (MB) after brief periods of contact with neonates; the latency of onset of MB rises considerably after weaning. Oxytocin (OXT) stimulates MB in adult rats. The effects of intracisternal (IC) administration of OXT (2 micrograms) on pup-directed and other behaviors in preweanling and postweanling juvenile rats were tested. Compared with saline and no treatment, OXT significantly increased active holding of pups in preweanling but not postweanling juvenile rats. No other components of adultlike MB were stimulated by OXT. OXT also decreased inactive touching of pups and robustly increased selfgrooming in juveniles at all ages tested. It is concluded that OXT facilitation of active pup-holding and licking in preweanling rats may be an extension of OXT-induced self-grooming to pups and may also be related to OXT activation of MB in adult rats.
断奶前的大鼠在与新生幼崽短暂接触后会表现出母性行为（MB）的部分行为；断奶后，母性行为开始的潜伏期会大幅延长。催产素（OXT）可刺激成年大鼠的母性行为。本研究测试了脑池内（IC）注射催产素（2微克）对断奶前和断奶后幼年大鼠的幼崽导向行为及其他行为的影响。与注射生理盐水和未治疗组相比，催产素显著增加了断奶前幼年大鼠对幼崽的主动抱持行为，但对断奶后幼年大鼠无此作用。催产素并未刺激出成年母性行为的其他组成部分。在所有测试年龄段的幼年大鼠中，催产素还减少了对幼崽的被动触摸，并显著增加了自我梳理行为。研究得出结论，催产素促进断奶前大鼠对幼崽的主动抱持和舔舐行为，可能是催产素诱导的自我梳理行为向幼崽的延伸，也可能与催产素激活成年大鼠的母性行为有关。
