PSYC23H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter Week 7: The Parental Brain: Cd38, Vasopressin Receptor 1A, Gravidity And Parity
Document Summary
Week 7: the biology of mammalian parenting and its effect on offspring social. Explores the hormonal and neural regulation of mammalian parenting and its consequences for infant social development (from rodent to human) Hormonal synchronization of physiology, brain, and behaviour in rodents. Maternal care starts with the inhibition of the avoidance of pup and activation of approach neural systems, in response to infant stimuli (virgin rodents find infant stimuli aversive; expectant mothers approach infant stimuli) Blood transfusion from a pregnant rat to a virgin female elicited maternal responsiveness. Progesterone during pregnancy + drop in progesterone end of pregnancy = signals labour, brain sensitivity to oxytocin and prolactin due to oxytocin receptors. Mpoa: medial preoptic area = maternal care: synchronizes the onset of maternal behaviour with delivery and nursing. Evidence: injecting hormones of reproduction in female virgin rats initiates maternal behaviours. It transitions parental motivation from pup aversion to attraction at parturition (labour)
