ArticleScientific reports2021
Dorsal raphe serotonin neurotransmission is required for the expression of nursing behavior and for pup survival.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neural circuits for mammalian parental behaviour.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- How Imprinted Genes Shape Nurturing Behaviours and Neural Circuits.Brain, behavior and evolution · 2026Review
- Concerted actions of distinct serotonin neurons orchestrate female pup care behavior.Research square · 2025Article
- Concerted actions of distinct serotonin neurons orchestrate female pup care behavior.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Socio-affective communication in Tph2-deficient rat pups: communal nesting aggravates growth retardation despite ameliorating maternal affiliation deficits.Molecular autism · 2024Article
- Neural cell-types and circuits linking thermoregulation and social behavior.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- Long-term impacts of prenatal maternal immune activation and postnatal maternal separation on maternal behavior in adult female rats: Relevance to postpartum mental disorders.Behavioural brain research · 2024Article
- Imprinted genes and the manipulation of parenting in mammals.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2023Review
- A brain circuit and neuronal mechanism for decoding and adapting to change in daylength.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Mother-Young Bonding: Neurobiological Aspects and Maternal Biochemical Signaling in Altricial Domesticated Mammals.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Review
- Oxytocin interactions with central dopamine and serotonin systems regulate different components of motherhood.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Review
- The Prolactin Family of Hormones as Regulators of Maternal Mood and Behavior.Frontiers in global women's health · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 8 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Proper maternal care is an essential factor of reproductive success in mammals, involving a repertoire of behaviors oriented toward the feeding and care of the offspring. Among the neurotransmitters involved in the initiation of these behaviors, serotonin (5-HT) seems to play an important role. Here we compared pup-oriented maternal behaviors in mice with constitutive 5-HT depletion, the tryptophan hydroxylase 2-knock-out (Tph2-KO) and the Pet1-KO mice. We report that the only common pup-oriented defect in these 2 hyposerotoninergic models is a defective nursing in parturient mice and altered nursing-like (crouching) behavior in virgin mice, while pup retrieval defects are only present in Tph2-KO. Despite a normal mammary gland development and milk production, the defect in appropriate nursing is responsible for severe growth retardation and early lethality of pups born to hyposerotonergic dams. This nursing defect is due to acute rather constitutive 5-HT depletion, as it is reproduced by adult knockdown of Tph2 in the dorsal raphe nucleus in mothers with a prior normal maternal experience. We conclude that 5-HT innervation from the dorsal raphe is required for both the initiation and maintenance of a normal nursing behavior. Our findings may be related to observations of reduced maternal/infant interactions in human depression.
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