Maternal aggression: New insights from Egr-1
Abstract
Lactating mice display fierce aggression towards novel, male mice. This study compares neuronal activity in the brains of aggression-tested (T) and -untested (U) mice using early growth response factor 1 (Egr-1; also known as Krox 24, NGFI-A, Zif268, Tis8, and ZENK) as a measure of neuronal activity. Animals were sampled 90 min after either a sham or real 7-min test with a male intruder, after which their brains were examined for immunoreactivity to Egr-1 (Egr-IR). Significant increases in Egr-IR in T mice were identified in 11 of 40 brain regions, including paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus; anterior and lateral hypothalamus (both posterior portion); ventromedial hypothalamus; lateral periaqueductal gray; and medial, central, and basolateral amygdala. Posterodorsal (MePD) and posteroventral medial amygdala were examined for the first time in association with maternal aggression. MePD, a region associated with both sexual and aggressive behaviors in rats, hamsters, and mice, showed increased Egr-IR in association with testing. Taken together, the results from this study provide new insights into the neural circuits regulating maternal behaviors.
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EGR1 has been shown to be useful as an indirect marker of neuronal activation in a variety of species and contexts.
“EGR1 has been shown to be useful as an indirect marker of neuronal activation in a variety of species and contexts (28–30).”
From Oxytocin receptors in the anteromedial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis promote stress-induced social avoidance in female California mice (2018) · cites this paper as [29]
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References 47 · Cited by 37
- Authors
- Hasen, N. S., & Gammie, S. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hasen, Nina S.
- ORCID
- Gammie, Stephen C.
- Venue
- Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-09
- Volume
- 1108
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 147-156
- ISSN
- 0006-8993 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2038257230
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH066086)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- maternal aggression, EGR1, neuronal activity, lactating mice, hypothalamus, amygdala, periaqueductal gray, paraventricular nucleus, maternal behavior
- MeSH terms
- Aggression, Animals, Brain, Female, Male, Maternal Behavior, Neural Pathways, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos, Mice, Early Growth Response Protein 1
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