Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, China.
Behav Brain Res. 2010 Dec 25;214(2):290-300. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2010.05.045. Epub 2010 Jun 1.
Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain factors influencing male alloparental behavior in cooperatively breeding species. Mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus) are ideal animal models to investigate these factors because they are highly social rodents and display biparental care and spontaneous parental care when exposed to foster pups. Here we test the idea that the sexual and paternal experience of males influences alloparental behavior toward novel pups, and that these experiences alter the expression of neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) and estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha). Alloparental behavior and OT and ERalpha expression were compared between virgin males that had no prior sexual or reproductive experience, exposed males that with prior exposure to novel pups before the test, paired males that had been housed with a female, and new fathers having their first litter with a female. Our results show that prior exposure to novel pups and prior mating and paternal experience increased male alloparental behavior toward a novel pup. This experience also increased OT expression and affected the expression of ERalpha. This study reveals important initiation factors for male alloparental behavior and suggests a relationship between alloparental behavior and central OT expression in males.
各种假说被提出以解释影响合作繁殖物种中雄性亲代抚育行为的因素。 沟鼠（Microtus mandarinus）是研究这些因素的理想动物模型，因为它们是高度社会化的啮齿动物，当暴露于寄养幼崽时会表现出双亲照顾和自发的亲代照顾。 在这里，我们检验了这样一种观点，即雄性的性和父性经验会影响对新幼崽的亲代抚育行为，并且这些经验会改变神经肽催产素（OT）和雌激素受体α（ERalpha）的表达。 在没有先前性或生殖经验的处女雄性、在测试前有过接触新幼崽的暴露雄性、与雌性一起饲养的配对雄性以及与雌性首次育有幼崽的新父亲之间，比较了亲代抚育行为以及 OT 和 ERalpha 的表达。 我们的结果表明，先前接触新幼崽以及先前的交配和父性经验会增加雄性对新幼崽的亲代抚育行为。 这种经验还增加了 OT 的表达并影响了 ERalpha 的表达。 这项研究揭示了雄性亲代抚育行为的重要启动因素，并表明亲代抚育行为与雄性中枢 OT 表达之间存在关系。
