Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2011 Sep;36(8):1217-25. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.02.016. Epub 2011 Apr 1.
In mammals, maternal care influences the developing offspring across multiple domains. In Long Evans rats, for example, the quality of maternal care received as a pup influences later cognitive function, neuroendocrine responses to stress and behavioral measures of emotionality. Data from humans, non-human primates, and rodents also suggest that early life events may similarly perturb measures of sexual reproduction, with possible consequences for reproductive fitness. The current study examined whether or not male conspecifics differentially prefer females, as adult mating partners, that were reared under varying maternal conditions (assessed via the quantity of licking and grooming received; LG). Additionally, the impact of maternal care on adult female sexual motivation and behavior were quantified to determine if these behavioral characteristics are associated with any preference observed. In a mate preference task, male rats chose, almost exclusively, to mount, copulate and ejaculate with female rats reared under Low LG conditions. Under non-paced mating conditions, female Low LG rats display significantly more paracopulatory and copulatory behaviors compared to High LG rats. Due to its critical role in female paracopulatory behavior, progesterone receptor immunoreactivity (PR-ir) in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH) was also assessed in both groups of female rats. Estradiol induced PR-ir in the VMH was significantly higher in Low LG relative to High LG rats. Together, these data suggests that early life parental care may developmentally program aspects of behavior and physiology that subsequently influence sexual attractivity and behavior in adult females.
在哺乳动物中，母体照顾会在多个领域影响发育中的后代。例如，在长耳大野鼠中，幼鼠期接受的母性照顾质量会影响其后期的认知功能、对压力的神经内分泌反应和情绪行为测量。来自人类、非人类灵长类动物和啮齿动物的数据也表明，早期生活事件可能同样会扰乱生殖行为的测量，对生殖适应性产生可能的后果。本研究检查了雄性同种动物是否会以不同的方式偏爱那些在不同母性条件下（通过接受舔舐和梳理的数量来评估；LG）长大的成年雌性作为交配伴侣。此外，还量化了母体照顾对成年雌性性动机和行为的影响，以确定这些行为特征是否与观察到的任何偏好有关。在交配偏好任务中，雄性大鼠几乎只选择与在低 LG 条件下长大的雌性大鼠交配、交配和射精。在非定时交配条件下，低 LG 组的雌性大鼠表现出更多的副交配和交配行为，明显高于高 LG 组的雌性大鼠。由于孕激素受体免疫反应（PR-ir）在下丘脑腹内侧核（VMH）中对雌性副交配行为起着关键作用，因此还评估了两组雌性大鼠的 VMH 中的 PR-ir。低 LG 组的雌鼠 VMH 中雌二醇诱导的 PR-ir 明显高于高 LG 组。这些数据表明，早期的父母照顾可能会在发育过程中编程某些行为和生理方面，从而影响成年雌性的性吸引力和行为。
