title: Ventral premammillary nucleus as a critical sensory relay to the maternal aggression network.
abstract: Maternal aggression is under the control of a wide variety of factors that prime the females for aggression or trigger the aggressive event. Maternal attacks are triggered by the perception of sensory cues from the intruder, and here we have identified a site in the hypothalamus of lactating rats that is highly responsive to the male intruder--the ventral premammillary nucleus (PMv). The PMv is heavily targeted by the medial amygdalar nucleus, and we used lesion and immediate-early gene studies to test our working hypothesis that the PMv signals the presence of a male intruder and transfers this information to the network organizing maternal aggression. PMv-lesioned dams exhibit significantly reduced maternal aggression, without affecting maternal care. The Fos analysis revealed that PMv influences the activation of hypothalamic and septal sites shown to be mobilized during maternal aggression, including the medial preoptic nucleus (likely to represent an important locus to integrate priming stimuli critical for maternal aggression), the caudal two-thirds of the hypothalamic attack area (comprising the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus and the adjacent tuberal region of the lateral hypothalamic area, critical for the expression of maternal aggression), and the ventral part of the anterior bed nuclei of the stria terminalis (presently discussed as being involved in controlling neuroendocrine and autonomic responses accompanying maternal aggression). These findings reveal an important role for the PMv in detecting the male intruder and how this nucleus modulates the network controlling maternal aggression.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anatomia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, SP 05508-000, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Simone C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.forename: Cibele Carla
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Isadora Clivatti
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Furigo
authors.forename: Marcia Harumi
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Sukikara
authors.forename: Marcus V C
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Baldo
authors.forename: Joseph S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lonstein
authors.forename: Newton S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Canteras
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D014697:Ventromedial Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 1994 Oct 1;348(1):41-79
references.pmid: 7814684
references.citation: Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev. 2006 Dec;5(4):163-90
references.pmid: 17099111
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 1986 Apr 15;246(3):312-42
references.pmid: 3517086
references.citation: Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Dec;29(8):1214-24
references.pmid: 16226365
references.citation: Brain Res. 1985 Apr 22;332(2):283-97
references.pmid: 4039616
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 2006 Jan 1;494(1):108-41
references.pmid: 16304682
references.citation: J Comp Psychol. 1986 Jun;100(2):173-7
references.pmid: 3720285
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1993 Mar;53(3):587-92
references.pmid: 8451327
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 2006 Jan 1;494(1):142-78
references.pmid: 16304685
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 1992 Oct 8;324(2):195-212
references.pmid: 1430329
references.citation: Behav Neurosci. 1991 Dec;105(6):984-97
references.pmid: 1777110
references.citation: J Neuroendocrinol. 2008 Jun;20(6):665-72
references.pmid: 18601687
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2005 Apr 13;84(5):681-95
references.pmid: 15885244
references.citation: Horm Behav. 1987 Dec;21(4):501-10
references.pmid: 3428888
references.citation: Stress. 1998 Jul;2(3):201-7
references.pmid: 9787267
references.citation: Horm Behav. 1987 Jun;21(2):253-67
references.pmid: 3610061
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2009 Mar 11;29(10):3138-47
references.pmid: 19279251
references.citation: Genes Brain Behav. 2009 Oct;8(7):639-49
references.pmid: 19799641
references.citation: Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2008 May;294(5):E827-32
references.pmid: 18285524
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 1988 Apr 8;270(2):209-42
references.pmid: 3259955
references.citation: Nature. 2011 Feb 10;470(7333):221-6
references.pmid: 21307935
references.citation: Behav Brain Res. 2010 Jul 11;210(2):211-20
references.pmid: 20184922
references.citation: Behav Neurosci. 1993 Feb;107(1):166-85
references.pmid: 8447950
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1999 Sep 15;19(18):8027-35
references.pmid: 10479702
references.citation: Behav Neurosci. 1996 Jun;110(3):509-27
references.pmid: 8888997
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Mar 24;106(12):4870-5
references.pmid: 19273843
references.citation: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2002 Dec;26(8):869-88
references.pmid: 12667494
references.citation: Dev Psychobiol. 2003 Dec;43(4):281-9
references.pmid: 15027411
references.citation: Horm Behav. 1995 Dec;29(4):492-518
references.pmid: 8748510
references.citation: Exp Neurol. 1988 Oct;102(1):121-4
references.pmid: 2846338
references.citation: Brain Res. 2006 Sep 7;1108(1):147-56
references.pmid: 16828713
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 1975 May 1;161(1):31-55
references.pmid: 1133226
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2008 Jun;27(11):2783-802
references.pmid: 18588525
references.citation: Behav Neurosci. 1989 Oct;103(5):1035-46
references.pmid: 2803551
references.citation: Neuroscience. 1992;46(4):755-84
references.pmid: 1371855
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2006 Jun 15;88(1-2):160-6
references.pmid: 16687159
references.citation: Neuroscience. 1994 Apr;59(4):1001-24
references.pmid: 8058117
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 1995 Sep 18;360(2):213-45
references.pmid: 8522644
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 1992 Oct 8;324(2):143-79
references.pmid: 1430327
references.citation: J Comp Neurol. 2006 Jan 1;494(1):75-107
references.pmid: 16304681