Involvement of the dopamine system in paternal behavior induced by repeated pup exposure in virgin male ICR mice
Abstract
Like mothers, fathers play a vital role in the development of the brain and behavior of offspring in mammals with biparental care. Unlike mothers, fathers do not experience the physiological processes of pregnancy, parturition, or lactation before their first contact with offspring. Whether pup exposure can induce the onset of paternal behavior and the underlying neural mechanisms remains unclear. By using Slc:ICR male mice exhibiting maternal-like parental care, the present study found that repeated exposure to pups for six days significantly increased the total duration of paternal behavior and shortened the latency to retrieve and care for pups. Repeated pup exposure increased c-Fos-positive neurons and the levels of dopamine- and TH-positive neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). In addition, inhibition of dopamine projections from the ventral tegmental area to the NAc using chemogenetic methods reduced paternal care induced by repeated pup exposure. In conclusion, paternal behavior in virgin male ICR mice can be initiated by repeated pup exposure via sensitization, and the dopamine system may be involved in this process.
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The emergence of paternal behavior is driven in part by oxytocin activity in the mesolimbic dopamine system.
“The emergence of paternal behavior, similar to maternal behavior, is driven in part by OT activity in the mesolimbic DA system [36,37].”
From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [36]
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- Authors
- Cai, W., Ma, H., Xun, Y., Hou, W., Wang, L., Zhang, X., Ran, Y., Yuan, W., Guo, Q., Zhang, J., Li, L., Yang, Y., Li, Y., Lv, Z., He, Z., Jia, R., & Tai, F.
- Affiliations
- Shaanxi Normal University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Jia, Rui
- Tai, Fadao
- ORCID
- Venue
- Behavioural Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-10
- Volume
- 415
- Pages
- 113519
- ISSN
- 0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3189206566
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 71
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (31372213, 31772473, 31970424, GK201903059, GK201903065)
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (31372213, 31772473, 31970424, GK201903059, GK201903065)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- paternal behavior, dopaminergic system, nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, dopamine transporter, c-fos, chemogenetic inhibition, biparental care, ICR mice
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Dopamine, Male, Maternal Behavior, Mice, Inbred ICR, Nucleus Accumbens, Paternal Behavior, Mice
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