While it has often been speculated that prior reproductive experience improves subsequent maternal care, few studies have examined specific changes in behavior during a first versus second lactation. During lactation mothers display heightened aggression toward male intruders, purportedly to protect vulnerable young. In the current study, maternal aggression was examined in primiparous and agematched, multiparous females on postpartum days 5 (PPD5) and PPD15. Expression of oxytocin (OXT), oxytocin receptor (OXT-R), arginine vasopressin (AVP), arginine vasopressin V1a receptors (V1a), and corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA was measured following aggression testing at both time points using real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) in brain regions previously implicated in the regulation of maternal aggression. Multiparity significantly enhanced maternal aggression on PPD5 but not on PPD15. In addition, this increased aggression was associated with region and gene specific changes in mRNA expression. These findings indicate that reproductive experience enhances maternal aggression, an effect that may be mediated by region specific alterations in neuropeptidergic activity. The adaptations observed in multiparous females provide an innate model for the study of neuroplasticity in the regulation of aggression.

Persistent changes in brain stress and glutamatergic function are associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Rodent exposure to the predator odor trimethylthiazoline (TMT) is an innate stressor that produces lasting behavioral consequences relevant to PTSD. As such, the goal of the present study was to assess early (6 hours and 2 days) and late (4 weeks) changes to gene expression (RT-PCR) related to stress and excitatory function following TMT exposure in male, Long-Evans rats. During TMT exposure, rats engaged in stress reactive behaviors, including digging and immobility. Further, the TMT group displayed enhanced exploration and mobility in the TMT-paired context one week after exposure, suggesting a lasting contextual reactivity. Gene expression analyses revealed upregulated FKBP5 6 hours post-TMT in the hypothalamus and dorsal hippocampus. Two days after TMT, GRM3 was downregulated in the prelimbic cortex and dorsal hippocampus, but upregulated in the nucleus accumbens. This may reflect an early stress response (FKBP5) that resulted in later glutamatergic adaptation (GRM3).Finally, four weeks after TMT exposure, several differentially expressed genes known to mediate excitatory tripartite synaptic function were observed. Specifically in the prelimbic cortex (GRM5, DLG4 and SLC1A3 upregulated), infralimbic cortex (GRM2 downregulated, Homer1 upregulated), nucleus accumbens (GRM7 and SLC1A3 downregulated), dorsal hippocampus (FKBP5 and NR3C2 upregulated, SHANK3 downregulated) and ventral hippocampus (CNR1, GRM7, GRM5, SHANK3, and Homer1 downregulated). These data demonstrate that TMT exposure stress induces early and late stress and excitatory molecular adaptations, which may help us understand the persistent glutamatergic dysfunction observed in PTSD.

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Persistent changes in brain stress and glutamatergic function are associated with post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Rodent exposure to the predator odor trimethylthiazoline (TMT) is an innate stressor that produces lasting behavioral consequences relevant to PTSD. As such, the goal of the present study was to assess early (6 hours and 2 days—Experiment 1) and late (4 weeks—Experiment 2) changes to gene expression (RT‐PCR) related to stress and excitatory function following TMT exposure in male, Long‐Evans rats. During TMT exposure, rats engaged in stress reactive behaviors, including digging and immobility. Further, the TMT group displayed enhanced exploration and mobility in the TMT‐paired context 1 week after exposure, suggesting a lasting contextual reactivity. Gene expression analyses revealed upregulated FKBP5 6 hours post‐TMT in the hypothalamus and dorsal hippocampus. Two days after TMT, GRM3 was downregulated in the prelimbic cortex and dorsal hippocampus, but upregulated in the nucleus accumbens. This may reflect an early stress response (FKBP5) that resulted in later glutamatergic adaptation (GRM3). Finally, another experiment 4 weeks after TMT exposure showed several differentially expressed genes known to mediate excitatory tripartite synaptic function in the prelimbic cortex (GRM5, DLG4 and SLC1A3 upregulated), infralimbic cortex (GRM2 downregulated, Homer1 upregulated), nucleus accumbens (GRM7 and SLC1A3 downregulated), dorsal hippocampus (FKBP5 and NR3C2 upregulated, SHANK3 downregulated) and ventral hippocampus (CNR1, GRM7, GRM5, SHANK3 and Homer1 downregulated). These data show that TMT exposure induces stress and excitatory molecular adaptations, which could help us understand the persistent glutamatergic dysfunction observed in PTSD.