title: Effects of maternal behavior induction and pup exposure on neurogenesis in adult, virgin female rats.
abstract: The states of pregnancy and lactation bring about a range of physiological and behavioral changes in the adult mammal that prepare the mother to care for her young. Cell proliferation increases in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the female rodent brain during both pregnancy and lactation when compared to that in cycling, diestrous females. In the present study, the effects of maternal behavior induction and pup exposure on neurogenesis in nulliparous rats were examined in order to determine whether maternal behavior itself, independent of pregnancy and lactation, might affect neurogenesis. Adult, nulliparous, Sprague-Dawley, female rats were exposed daily to foster young in order to induce maternal behavior. Following the induction of maternal behavior each maternal subject plus females that were exposed to pups for a comparable number of test days, but did not display maternal behavior, and subjects that had received no pup exposure were injected with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU, 90 mg/kg, i.v.). Brain sections were double-labeled for BrdU and the neural marker, NeuN, to examine the proliferating cell population. Increases in the number of double-labeled cells were found in the maternal virgin brain when compared with the number of double-labeled cells present in non-maternal, pup-exposed nulliparous rats and in females not exposed to young. No changes were evident in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus as a function of maternal behavior. These data indicate that in nulliparous female rats maternal behavior itself is associated with the stimulation of neurogenesis in the SVZ.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University - Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, 200 Westboro Road, North Grafton, MA 01536, United States.
authors.forename: Miyako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Bridges
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine; D002452:Cell Count; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D010298:Parity / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D055153:Stem Cell Niche / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine