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Cited by 24Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorSexual Differentiation and DisordersEstrogen and related hormone effects

Effects of postnatal estrogen manipulations on juvenile alloparental behavior

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Perry, Adam N., Sue Carter, C., Cushing, Bruce S.·2015·Hormones and Behavior
DOI 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.07.019PMC PMC4648650
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Abstract

Sex- and species-specific patterns of estrogen receptor (ER)-α expression are established early in development, which may contribute to sexual differentiation of behavior and determine male social organization. The current study investigated the effects of ERα and ERβ activation during the second postnatal week on subsequent alloparental behavior and ERα expression in juvenile prairie voles. Male and female pups were treated daily with 17β-estradiol (E2, ERα/ERβ agonist), PPT (selective ERα agonist), DPN (selective ERβ agonist), or the oil vehicle on postnatal days (PD) 8-14. Alloparental behavior and ERα expression were examined at PD21. PPT treatment inhibited prosocial motivation in males and increased pup-directed aggression in both sexes. E2 and DPN had no apparent effect on behavior in either sex. PPT-treated males had increased ERα expression in the medial preoptic area (MPN), medial amygdala (MEApd) and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTpr). DPN treatment also increased ERα expression in males, but only in the BSTpr. Female ERα expression was unaffected by treatment. These results support the hypothesis that ERα activation in early life is associated with less prosocial patterns of central ERα expression and alloparental behavior in males. The lack of an effect of E2 on behavior suggests that ERβ may antagonize the effects of ERα on alloparental behavior. The results in DPN-treated males suggest that ERα in the MEApd, and not the BSTpr, may be a primary determinant of alloparental behavior in males.

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  • Because AVP/OT and the dopaminergic pathways they feed into are heavily influenced by sex steroids across the lifespan, their sexually dimorphic ontogeny and function may be particularly vulnerable to endocrine disruption.

    “Because AVP/OT and the dopaminergic pathways they feed into are heavily influenced by sex steroids across the lifespan (50–59), it is highly plausible that their sexually dimorphic ontogeny and function may be particularly vulnerable to endocrine disruption.”

    From Endocrine Disruption of Vasopressin Systems and Related Behaviors (2017) · cites this paper as [58]

    The Abstract and Results report sex-specific effects of postnatal estrogen-receptor activation on ERα expression and alloparental behavior in prairie voles. They do not address whether sex steroids influence AVP/OT and the dopaminergic pathways they feed into across the lifespan; searches for those pathways and endocrine disruption returned no passage establishing that point. The endocrine-disruption inference follows the citation in the citing sentence and is the citing authors’ own framing. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Authors
Perry, A. N., Sue Carter, C., & Cushing, B. S.
Affiliations
University of Illinois Chicago (US)
Corresponding author
Perry, Adam N.
ORCID
Cushing, Bruce S.
Venue
Hormones and Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-09
Volume
75
Pages
11-17
ISSN
0018-506X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.07.019
PMC
PMC4648650
OpenAlex
W998388949
Cited by
24
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2
FWCI
3.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Hormones and Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Drug Abuse (NIDA) (F31 DA018034)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Estrogen and related hormone effects
Keywords
estrogen receptor alpha, estrogen receptor beta, Microtus ochrogaster, estradiol, PPT, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, prosocial behavior, medial preoptic area, medial amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
MeSH terms
Animals, Animals, Newborn, Cooperative Behavior, Arvicolinae, Estradiol, Female, Male, Nesting Behavior, Nitriles, Paternal Behavior, Preoptic Area, Propionates, Sapogenins, Social Behavior, Ginsenosides, Estrogen Receptor alpha, Estrogen Receptor beta

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