Dopamine D1 receptor activation of adenylyl cyclase, not phospholipase C, in the nucleus accumbens promotes maternal behavior onset in rats

Hormonal and non-hormonal bases of maternal behavior: The role of experience and epigenetic mechanisms

“…Lactating females that engage in interactions with pups have elevated dopamine release in the ventral striatum and NA (Champagne et al, 2004;Hansen et al, 1993) and females that engage in higher levels of maternal care have increased dopaminergic projections from the VTA to the NA (Shahrokh et al, 2010). Both pup sensitization and parity result in enhanced dopamine release in response to pup cues and hormonal treatments that enhance pup sensitization also enhance DA release in the NA (Afonso et al, 2008(Afonso et al, , 2009(Afonso et al, , 2013 and stimulate signaling though D1 receptors (Stolzenberg et al, 2010). These experience-dependent changes may account for the maintenance of maternal behavior following the reduced hormone levels occurring in the postpartum period and account to the long-term enhancements in maternal behavior as a function of previous interactions with pups (Lee et al, 1999(Lee et al, , 2000.…”

Maternal neglect with reduced depressive-like behavior and blunted c-fos activation in Brattleboro mothers, the role of central vasopressin

“…This region is a known brain center of reward (Gardner, 2011) and social interactions, like maternal behavior, are rewarding (Trezza et al, 2011). Indeed, mPOA regulated activation of mesolimbic dopamine system, especially the AcbSh, has a crucial role in the immediate onset and maintenance of maternal behavior after parturition (Afonso et al, 2009;Numan and Stolzenberg, 2009;Stolzenberg et al, 2010). AcbSh dopamine release is directly associated with onset of licking bouts (Champagne et al, 2004).…”

Differential effects of dopamine D1 and D2/3 receptor antagonism on motor responses

“…Activation of D1-like and D2-like dopamine receptors affects synaptic transmission and is expected to influence a variety of motor and reward-related behavioural processes. For example, activation of D1 receptors initiates maternal behaviour in female ovariectomized rats through stimulation of adenylyl cyclase (Stolzenberg et al 2010). In addition to the direct effects on synaptic transmission, changes in the levels of cAMP mediate the activity of protein kinases and transcription factors leading to enhancement/suppression of the expression of specific target genes (Jia et al 2013).…”