eNeuroJan 12, 2022

Oxytocin helps mothers care for others’ babies during stress in lab mice

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Mar 27, 2026

Abstract

Genetically-targeted mouse lines show that -related signaling may influence parental care behaviors.

Neuronal activation related to parental nurturing is associated with oxytocin neurons and fibers in the medial preoptic area.
Triple knock-out (TKO) and quadruple knock-out (QKO) mice are healthy and fertile but lack milk ejection and have some difficulties with parturition.
Pup-directed behaviors in TKO and QKO mice were similar to those of their littermates with other genotypes under minimal stress conditions.
KO virgin females exhibited decreased pup retrieval after restraint stress, a vulnerability that was mitigated by the additional KO.
General stress sensitivity, indicated by cortisol levels and behavior in standardized tests, remained unchanged in KO mice but was reduced in KO females.

Simplified

(Oxt) controls reproductive physiology and various kinds of social behaviors, but the exact contribution of Oxt to different components of parental care still needs to be determined. Here, we illustrate the neuroanatomical relations of the parental nurturing-induced neuronal activation with magnocellular Oxt neurons and fibers in the medial preoptic area (MPOA), the brain region critical for parental and alloparental behaviors. We used genetically-targeted mouse lines for,(),(),(), and() to systematically examine the role of Oxt-related signaling in pup-directed behaviors. The--triple knock-out (TKO), and---quadruple KO (QKO) mice were grossly healthy and fertile, except for their complete deficiency in milk ejection and modest deficiency in parturition secondary to maternal loss of theorgene. In our minimal stress conditions, pup-directed behaviors in TKO and QKO mothers and fathers, virgin females and males were essentially indistinguishable from those of their littermates with other genotypes. However,KO virgin females did show decreased pup retrieval in the pup-exposure assay performed right after restraint stress. This stress vulnerability in theKO was abolished by the additionalKO. The general stress sensitivity, as measured by plasma cortisol elevation after restraint stress or by the behavioral performance in the open field (OF) and elevated plus maze (EPM), were not altered in theKO but were reduced in theKO females, indicating that the balance of neurohypophysial hormones affects the outcome of pup-directed behaviors. Oxt Oxt receptor Oxtr vasopressin receptor 1a Avpr1a vasopressin receptor 1b Avpr1b thyrotropin-releasing hormone Trh Oxtr Avpr1a Avpr1b Oxt Trh Avpr1a Avpr1b Oxt Oxtr Oxtr Oxtr Avpr1b Oxtr Avpr1b

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Oxytocin helps mothers care for others’ babies during stress in lab mice

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