In the mouse brain, a cluster of neurons (red) within the medial preoptic area acts as a parenting control hub, orchestrating behaviors such as grooming and interacting with pups. DULAC LAB/HHMI/HARVARD
Whether in humans or in mice, parenting entails a suite of behaviors, including grooming, feeding, and protecting young, but the neural systems that guide these activities remain poorly understood. Researchers have now made some headway, having deconstructed some of the neural circuitry responsible for this complex behavior, which the authors say is the first such map of its kind. Yesterday (April 11) in Nature they report that the neurons that govern parenting in mice’s brains are organized into distinct pools originating in the hypothalamus, with each department communicating with any of 20 other regions in the brain and directing a specific parenting activity.
“This is a very ambitious study,” says Robert Bridges, a neuroscientist at Tufts University who did not participate in the work. The ...
