title: Distal pup cues evoke dopamine responses in hormonally primed rats in the absence of pup experience or ongoing maternal behavior.
abstract: During the early postpartum period or following estrogen/progesterone administration, pups elicit maternal behavior accompanied by a robust dopamine (DA) response in the nucleus accumbens (NAC) of female rats (Afonso et al., 2009). To determine whether DA responds to ostensibly "salient" stimuli in the absence of consummatory behaviors, we examined NAC shell DA responses during restricted (stimuli placed in a perforated box), and unrestricted access to pup and food stimuli. Microdialysis samples were collected from female rats that were either cycling and postpartum (Experiment 1), or after ovariectomy and treated with empty and hormone-filled capsules (Experiment 2). Relative to nonprimed controls, hormonally primed females had suppressed basal DA concentrations and facilitated pup-evoked DA responses, regardless of stimulus access condition. In contrast, food-evoked DA responses were unchanged by hormonal priming and were greater when females consumed food compared with distal (restricted) exposure to food. During pup and food restriction conditions, the lack of any "appetitive" behavioral differences, even in pup experienced postpartum females, was surprising. In Experiment 3, we confirmed that postpartum dams allocated time equivalently to restricted pup and food stimuli, even after pup deprivation. This was in sharp contrast to the effects of deprivation during the unrestricted access phase. Together, our data demonstrated that, in hormonally primed females, distal pup cues could evoke DA responses without prior stimulus experience, ongoing maternal (behavioral) responses, or clear evidence of robust pup saliency. The results suggest that NAC DA response reflects a state of responsiveness related to basal DA suppression in the hormonally primed female rat.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada.
authors: Veronica M
authors: VM
authors: Afonso
authors: Waqqas M
authors: WM
authors: Shams
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Jin
authors: Alison S
authors: AS
authors: Fleming
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D004343:Drug Implants; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D005260:Female; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010052:Ovariectomy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D004343:Drug Implants; C074283:estradiol 3-benzoate; D004958:Estradiol; D004298:Dopamine
references: Physiol Behav. 1987;40(1):47-54
references: 3615654
references: Horm Behav. 2009 Jun;56(1):11-23
references: 19248782
references: J Neurosci Methods. 1980 Dec;3(2):129-49
references: 6110810
references: Can J Neurol Sci. 1982 Nov;9(4):421-7
references: 7151026
references: Science. 1961 Jun 2;133(3466):1771-3
references: 17829723
references: Physiol Behav. 1981 Nov;27(5):863-8
references: 7323193
references: Nat Neurosci. 2005 Nov;8(11):1481-9
references: 16251991
references: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012 Jan;37(2):390-401
references: 21881567
references: J Neurochem. 1994 May;62(5):1750-6
references: 8158125
references: Drug Alcohol Depend. 2002 Feb 1;65(3):209-20
references: 11841892
references: Endocrinology. 1984 Mar;114(3):930-40
references: 6697968
references: Brain Res. 2003 Apr 25;970(1-2):149-58
references: 12706256
references: Brain Res Bull. 2004 May 30;63(4):259-68
references: 15196651
references: Neuroscience. 1999;92(2):545-52
references: 10408603
references: Horm Behav. 1987 Jun;21(2):253-67
references: 3610061
references: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1993 Jul;45(3):673-6
references: 7687357
references: J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1980 Dec;94(6):1040-59
references: 7204697
references: Behav Neurosci. 2009 Dec;123(6):1325-38
references: 20001116
references: Horm Behav. 1989 Jun;23(2):157-72
references: 2744735
references: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2008 Jul;199(1):119-30
references: 18470696
references: Neuroscience. 1999 Mar;89(3):637-41
references: 10199600
references: Neuroendocrinology. 2002 Jan;75(1):24-33
references: 11810032
references: Neuroscience. 2003;120(2):523-33
references: 12890521
references: Endocr Rev. 1999 Jun;20(3):279-307
references: 10368772
references: Brain Res. 2010 Mar 19;1321:51-9
references: 20079719
references: Science. 1967 Jun 16;156(3781):1512-4
references: 5611028
references: Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. 1982;22:555-98
references: 6123298
references: Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 1982 Mar;60(3):350-7
references: 7200388
references: Physiol Behav. 1989 Sep;46(3):449-53
references: 2623069
references: Synapse. 1999 Dec;34(3):222-7
references: 10523759
references: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Apr;191(3):461-82
references: 17225164
references: J Neurosci. 2005 Jan 5;25(1):149-56
references: 15634776
references: Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1998 Dec;28(3):309-69
references: 9858756
references: Horm Behav. 1979 Jun;12(3):243-52
references: 575716
references: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1999 Dec;64(4):803-12
references: 10593204
references: Neuroscience. 1992 Aug;49(4):893-902
references: 1436487
references: Physiol Behav. 1980 Nov;25(5):731-43
references: 7443835
references: Eur J Neurosci. 1999 Dec;11(12):4389-97
references: 10594666
references: Horm Behav. 2011 Nov;60(5):632-43
references: 21964046
references: Science. 1994 Sep 23;265(5180):1826-31
references: 8091209
references: Behav Brain Res. 1996 Jan;74(1-2):189-97
references: 8851929
references: J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1977 Feb;91(1):146-64
references: 402400
references: Neuron. 2006 Sep 7;51(5):541-7
references: 16950153
references: J Neurosci. 2004 Feb 18;24(7):1754-9
references: 14973252
references: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1991 May;39(1):71-7
references: 1924515
references: Neurosci Lett. 1981 Feb 23;22(1):69-74
references: 7219894
references: Neuroscience. 2010 May 5;167(2):216-31
references: 20156528
references: Life Sci. 1988;43(8):665-72
references: 3412110
references: Front Neuroendocrinol. 2009 Jan;30(1):46-64
references: 19022278
references: Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2008 Dec;8(4):375-89
references: 19033236
references: Horm Behav. 2006 Jan;49(1):30-7
references: 15955535
references: Horm Behav. 1998 Apr;33(2):104-14
references: 9647936
references: Behav Brain Res. 2000 Mar;108(2):215-31
references: 10701665
references: Psychol Rev. 2000 Apr;107(2):289-344
references: 10789198
references: Physiol Behav. 1970 Dec;5(12):1373-7
references: 5524524
references: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1994;19(5-7):429-43
references: 7938344
references: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Oct;194(3):309-19
references: 17589831
references: Behav Neurosci. 2001 Jun;115(3):683-94
references: 11439457
references: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2008 Aug;90(2):236-49
references: 18045671
references: J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1974 May;86(5):957-72
references: 4833599
references: Eur J Pharmacol. 1986 Jun 5;125(1):11-6
references: 2426126
references: Behav Neurosci. 1991 Aug;105(4):588-98
references: 1930726
references: J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1968 Apr;65(2):311-3
references: 5691278
references: Endocrinology. 2010 May;151(5):2276-86
references: 20228171
references: Front Neuroendocrinol. 2008 Jan;29(1):36-47
references: 17904621
references: J Neurosci. 2004 Apr 28;24(17):4113-23
references: 15115806