Oxytocin receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell are involved in the consolidation of maternal memory in postpartum rats
Abstract
Female rats with maternal experience display a shorter onset of maternal responsiveness compared to those with no prior experience. This phenomenon called 'maternal memory' is critically dependent on the nucleus accumbens (NA) shell. We hypothesized that activation of OT receptors in the NA shell facilitates maternal memory. In Experiment 1, postpartum female rats given 1 hour of maternal experience were infused following the experience with either a high or low dose of an OT antagonist into the NA shell and tested for maternal behavior after a 10-day pup isolation period. Females receiving a high dose of the antagonist showed a significantly longer latency to exhibit full maternal behavior after the pup isolation period compared to females that received vehicle or a high dose of antagonist in a control region. In Experiment 2, postpartum female rats were infused with either a high or low dose of OT into the NA shell after a 15-minute maternal experience and tested for maternal behavior after a 10-day pup isolation period. There were no significant differences between the females infused with OT and females treated with a vehicle infused into the NA shell or with OT infused into the control region. One possible reason for a lack of facilitation is a floor effect, since females in the control groups displayed a rapid maternal response after the pup isolation period. These findings suggest that OT receptors, likely in combination with other neurotransmitters, in the NA shell pl…
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In Sprague-Dawley rats, intra-NAc OXT injections or OXTR antagonist injections altered the onset of maternal behaviour.
“investigations in Sprague-Dawley rats demonstrated that intra-NAc OXT injections or OXTR antagonist injections altered the onset of maternal behaviour (D ' Cunha et al., 2011)”
From Convergence of oxytocin and dopamine signalling in neuronal circuits: Insights into the neurobiology of social interactions across species (2024) · cites this paper as D'Cunha et al., 2011
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“Studies have also found that intraventricular or site-specific administration of OT can induce maternal behavior in virigin female rats (Fahrbach et al., 1984; Yu et al., 1996).”
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Olazábal, D. E., Pereira, M., Agrati, D., Ferreira, A., Fleming, A. S., González-Mariscal, G., Lévy, F., Lucion, A. B., Morrell, J. I., Numan, M., et al. (2013) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.04.004 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
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- Authors
- D'Cunha, T. M., King, S. J., Fleming, A. S., & Lévy, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Fleming, A.S.
- ORCID
- Lévy, F.
- Venue
- Hormones and Behavior
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-01
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 14-21
- ISSN
- 0018-506X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2008023580
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 6.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Hormones and Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Keywords
- oxytocin receptor, nucleus accumbens shell, maternal memory, maternal behavior, memory consolidation, postpartum women, oxytocin antagonist, maternal responsiveness
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Female, Maternal Behavior, Memory, Nucleus Accumbens, Oxytocin, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Receptors, Oxytocin, Postpartum Period, Rats
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