Neuronal mechanism involved in the learning of maternal behaviour discovered

Various conditions such as postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis can lead to an alteration in maternal behaviour and disrupt the mother-child bonding process. A research team led by Daniela Pollak from MedUni Vienna's Center for Physiology and Pharmacology has conducted a study in which they were able to identify the neuronal circuits in the brain that are activated during the learning of maternal behaviour. The findings, published in "The EMBO Journal", can serve as a basis for developing therapeutic interventions. In the course of their preclinical investigation, the scientists led by Daniela Pollak from the Division of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology at MedUni Vienna's Center for Physiology and Pharmacology analysed maternal behaviour of female mice towards newborn pups. While the neural processes involved in the development of maternal care behaviour in female mice after birth have already been described, the current study addressed the question which circuits in the brain are activated during the learning of care behaviour in nulliparous virgin females, female mice that have not been pregnant. The researchers found the answer in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region in the prefrontal lobe of the brain that is associated, among other things, with the recognition and evaluation of social processes and the development of emotional awareness. The mouse model showed that in females who have not been pregnant or given birth, the ACC gets activated when they acquire maternal behaviour upon first contact with pups.