Effects of electrical lesions of the medial preoptic area and the ventral pallidum on mate-dependent paternal behavior in mice

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 570; pp. 21 - 25
• Main Authors: Akther, Shirin, Fakhrul, Azam A.K.M., Higashida, Haruhiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 06.06.2014
• Subjects: Animals; Basal Forebrain - physiology; Electric brain lesion; Electricity; Female; Male; Medial preoptic area; Mice, Inbred ICR; Parental behavior; Paternal behavior; Paternal Behavior - physiology; Preoptic Area - physiology; Retrieval; Ventral pallidum; Retrieval; Parental behavior; Ventral pallidum; Paternal behavior; Medial preoptic area; Electric brain lesion
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2014.03.078

•The mouse sires displayed mate-dependent paternal behavior.•This parental behavior was disrupted by electrical brain lesions.•The medial preoptic area and ventral pallidum are involved in the paternal behaviors. In laboratory animals, less is known about the neural circuits that mediate paternal behavior than those that influence maternal behavior. In mice, we recently reported that when sires are separated with their mate dams from their pups, ultrasound and pheromonal signals from the dams can evoke and initiate maternal-like retrieval behavior in the sires upon reunion with the offspring; this is termed mate-dependent paternal care. We used electrolytic brain lesion (EBL) methods to identify the potential roles of the medial preoptic area (mPOA) and ventral pallidum (VP) regions in regulating paternal care, areas known to be critical for the expression of maternal behavior. Electrolytic lesions of the mPOA or VP disrupted mate-dependent paternal care; latencies to initiate pup retrieval, grooming and crouching were longer in the EBL-treated sires relative to the sham-operated mice. The number of grooming episodes and duration of crouching were also lower in sires with the EBL in both areas. These results indicate that the mPOA and VP regions are essential for mate-dependent paternal care in mice.