Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Eur J Neurosci. 2017 Oct;46(7):2276-2284. doi: 10.1111/ejn.13673. Epub 2017 Sep 18.
Male parental care is a vital behavior for the development as well as the physical and mental well-being of the young. However, little is known about the neurochemical regulation of male parental behavior, mainly due to the lack of appropriate animal models. In this study, we used the socially monogamous male prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) to investigate the effect of pair-bonding experience on paternal behavior and dopamine (DA) signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in the brain. We compared sexually naïve males with males that were pair bonded with a female for two weeks. Our data showed that pair-bonded males displayed enhanced paternal behavior, particularly in pup licking/grooming, associated with increased DA type-1 receptor (D1R) protein expression in the NAcc, compared to sexually naïve males. Site-specific brain microdialysis revealed a significant, but transient, increase in DA release in the NAcc associated with pup exposure in both groups of the males. Further, pharmacological blockade of D1R in the NAcc decreased pup licking/grooming in the pair-bonded males. Together, our data demonstrate that pair-bonding experience with a female facilitated male parental behavior via NAcc D1R mediation in male prairie voles.
雄性亲代照料对幼崽的发育以及身心健康至关重要。然而，由于缺乏适当的动物模型，雄性亲代行为的神经化学调控机制仍知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们使用社交一夫一妻制的雄性草原田鼠（Microtus ochrogaster）来研究配对结合经历对大脑伏隔核（NAcc）中雄性亲代行为和多巴胺（DA）信号传导的影响。我们比较了性经验缺乏的雄性与与雌性配对结合两周的雄性。我们的数据显示，与性经验缺乏的雄性相比，配对结合的雄性表现出增强的亲代行为，特别是在幼崽舔舐/梳理方面，同时 NAcc 中的 DA 类型 1 受体（D1R）蛋白表达增加。特定部位的脑微透析显示，两组雄性在接触幼崽时，NAcc 中的 DA 释放均出现短暂但显著的增加。此外，NAcc 中的 D1R 药理学阻断降低了配对结合雄性的幼崽舔舐/梳理行为。综上所述，我们的数据表明，与雌性的配对结合经历通过 NAcc 中的 D1R 介导促进了雄性草原田鼠的亲代行为。
