Medial preoptic area (MPOA) and ventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (VBST) neurons are involved in maternal behavior, but the neural sites to which the maternally relevant neurons project have not been determined. Since MPOA and VBST neurons express Fos during maternal behavior, we used a double-labeling immunocytochemical procedure to detect both Fos and a retrograde tracer, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), in order to determine where these Fos neurons project. On Day 4 postpartum, fully maternal females were separated from their litters. On Day 5, WGA was iontophoretically injected into one of the following regions known to receive MPOA and/or VBST input: Lateral septum, medial hypothalamus at the level of the ventromedial nucleus, lateral habenula, ventral tegmental area, retrorubral field, or periaqueductal gray. On Day 7, females received a 2-h test with either pups or candy, after which they were perfused and their brains were processed for the detection of Fos and WGA. As expected, females tested with pups had more Fos-containing neurons in the MPOA and VBST than did females tested with candy. After WGA injections into several brain sites, the number of double-labeled cells observed in the MPOA and VBST was greater for the maternal females when compared to the non-maternal females. Therefore, these results pinpointed neural circuits that were activated during maternal behavior. For the maternal females, Fos-containing neurons in the MPOA projected most strongly to the medial hypothalamus at the level of the ventromedial nucleus and to the lateral septum, while Fos-containing neurons in the VBST projected most strongly to the retrorubral field, ventral tegmental area, and medial hypothalamus. Although relatively few MPOA and VBST neurons which expressed Fos during maternal behavior projected to the periaqueductal gray, these Fos-expressing neurons made up a relatively large proportion of the MPOA and VBST projection to the periaqueductal gray. This study suggests that MPOA and VBST efferents project to a variety of regions to promote full maternal responsiveness.

译文

视前区 (MPOA) 和纹状体 (VBST) 神经元的腹床核参与母体行为,但尚未确定与母系相关的神经元投射到的神经部位。由于MPOA和VBST神经元在母体行为中表达Fos,因此我们使用双标记免疫细胞化学程序来检测Fos和逆行示踪剂小麦胚芽凝集素 (WGA),以确定这些Fos神经元的投射位置。产后第4天,将完全的产妇与产仔分开。在第5天,将WGA离子电渗注射到以下已知接受MPOA和/或VBST输入的区域之一: 外侧隔膜,腹内侧核水平的下丘脑内侧,外侧habenula,腹侧被盖区,脑后野,或导水管周围灰色。在第7天,雌性接受了2小时的幼崽或糖果测试,然后对其进行灌注,并对其大脑进行处理以检测Fos和WGA。正如预期的那样,与用糖果测试的雌性相比,用幼崽测试的雌性在MPOA和VBST中具有更多的含Fos的神经元。在将WGA注射到多个大脑部位后,与非母体女性相比,在MPOA和VBST中观察到的双标记细胞数量更多。因此,这些结果确定了在母体行为期间激活的神经回路。对于母体女性,MPOA中含Fos的神经元最强烈地投射到腹内侧核水平的下丘脑内侧和外侧隔,而VBST中含Fos的神经元最强烈地投射到脑后野,腹侧被盖区和下丘脑内侧。尽管在投射到导水管周围灰色的母体行为中表达Fos的MPOA和VBST神经元相对较少,但这些表达Fos的神经元在MPOA和VBST投射到导水管周围灰色的比例相对较大。这项研究表明,MPOA和VBST传出剂投射到各个地区,以促进孕产妇的全面反应。

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