Oxytocin Neurons Exhibit Extensive Functional Plasticity Due To Offspring Age in Mothers and Fathers.

ABSTRACT: The needs of offspring change as they develop. Thus, parents should concomitantly change their investment based on the age-related needs of the offspring as they mature. Due to the high costs of parental care, it is optimal for parents to exhibit a shift from intense caregiving of young offspring to promoting independence in older offspring. Yet, the neural mechanisms that underlie shifts in parental behavior are poorly understood, and little is known about how the parental brain responds to offspring of different ages. To elucidate mechanisms that relate to shifts in parental behavior as offspring develop, we examined behavioral and neural responses of male and female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), a biparental rodent, to interactions with offspring at different stages of developme

SUBMITTER: Kelly AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5886336 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature