ArticleFrontiers in behavioral neuroscience2014
Oxytocin in the medial prefrontal cortex regulates maternal care, maternal aggression and anxiety during the postpartum period.
Article in Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers.
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43 citing papers in PubMed, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Limited nesting stress in mice as a model to study neuroimmune relationships in postpartum depression.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Neuroendocrine Regulation and Neural Circuitry of Parenthood: Integrating Neuropeptides, Brain Receptors, and Maternal Behavior.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- An oxytocin receptor gene polymorphism is associated with distinct neural responses to mating encounters in male prairie voles.Hormones and behavior · 2025Article
- Stress and parental behaviors.Neuroscience research · 2025Review
- PVN-mPFC OT projections modulate pup-directed pup care or attacking in virgin mandarin voles.eLife · 2024Article
- Molecular basis underlying default mode network functional abnormalities in postpartum depression with and without anxiety.Human brain mapping · 2024Article
- Oxytocin Enhances Time-Dependent Responses in the Aggressive Zebrafish (Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Neurobiological traces of grief: Examining the impact of offspring loss after birth on rat mothers' brain and stress-coping behavior in the first week postpartum.Neuroscience applied · 2024Article
- The Multifaceted Role of Oxytocinergic System andGlobal medical genetics · 2024Review
- Roadmap for maternal behavior research in domestic dogs: lessons from decades of laboratory rodent work.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2024Review
- Oxytocin antagonist does not disrupt rabbit maternal behavior despite binding to brain oxytocin receptors.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Parental factors that impact the ecology of human mammary development, milk secretion, and milk composition-a report from "Breastmilk Ecology: Genesis of Infant Nutrition (BEGIN)" Working Group 1.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Article
- The role of oxytocin in shaping complex social behaviours: possible interactions with other neuromodulators.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Review
- Whole-Brain Wiring Diagram of Oxytocin System in Adult Mice.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2022Article
- The modulation of emotional and social behaviors by oxytocin signaling in limbic network.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2022Review
- GABA System Modifications During Periods of Hormonal Flux Across the Female Lifespan.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Review
- Effects of Prenatal Phthalate Exposure and Childhood Exercise on Maternal Behaviors in Female Rats at Postpartum: A Role ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Oxytocin receptors in the midbrain dorsal raphe are essential for postpartum maternal social and affective behaviors.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Article
- How stress can influence brain adaptations to motherhood.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2021Review
- Induction of Relaxation by Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) acts on a widespread network of brain regions to regulate numerous behavioral adaptations during the postpartum period including maternal care, maternal aggression, and anxiety. In the present study, we examined whether this network also includes the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). We found that bilateral infusion of a highly specific oxytocin receptor antagonist (OTR-A) into the prelimbic (PL) region of the mPFC increased anxiety-like behavior in postpartum, but not virgin, females. In addition, OTR blockade in the postpartum mPFC impaired maternal care behaviors and enhanced maternal aggression. Overall, these results suggest that OT in the mPFC modulates maternal care and aggression, as well as anxiety-like behavior, during the postpartum period. Although the relationship among these behaviors is complicated and further investigation is required to refine our understanding of OT actions in the maternal mPFC, these data nonetheless provide new insights into neural circuitry of OT-mediated postpartum behaviors.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.