Ventral premammillary nucleus as a critical sensory relay to the maternal aggression network

Author(s)

Motta, Simone C. ^[1] ; Guimaraes, Cibele Carla ^[1] ; Furigo, Isadora Clivatti ^[1] ; Sukikara, Marcia Harumi ^[2] ; Baldo, Marcus V. C. ^[3] ; Lonstein, Joseph S. ^{[4, 5]} ; Canteras, Newton S. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Ciencias Biomed, Dept Anat, BR-05508000 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Cidade Sao Paulo, Lab Bases Neurais Comportamento, BR-03071000 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Ciencias Biomed, Dept Fisiol & Biofis, BR-05508000 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Michigan State Univ, Neurosci Program, E Lansing, MI 48824 - USA

^[5] Michigan State Univ, Dept Psychol, E Lansing, MI 48824 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; v. 110, n. 35, p. 14438-14443, AUG 27 2013.
• Web of Science Citations: 20

Abstract

Maternal aggression is under the control of a wide variety of factors that prime the females for aggression or trigger the aggressive event. Maternal attacks are triggered by the perception of sensory cues from the intruder, and here we have identified a site in the hypothalamus of lactating rats that is highly responsive to the male intruder-the ventral premammillary nucleus (PMv). The PMv is heavily targeted by the medial amygdalar nucleus, and we used lesion and immediate-early gene studies to test our working hypothesis that the PMv signals the presence of a male intruder and transfers this information to the network organizing maternal aggression. PMv-lesioned dams exhibit significantly reduced maternal aggression, without affecting maternal care. The Fos analysis revealed that PMv influences the activation of hypothalamic and septal sites shown to be mobilized during maternal aggression, including the medial preoptic nucleus (likely to represent an important locus to integrate priming stimuli critical for maternal aggression), the caudal two-thirds of the hypothalamic attack area (comprising the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus and the adjacent tuberal region of the lateral hypothalamic area, critical for the expression of maternal aggression), and the ventral part of the anterior bed nuclei of the stria terminalis (presently discussed as being involved in controlling neuroendocrine and autonomic responses accompanying maternal aggression). These findings reveal an important role for the PMv in detecting the male intruder and how this nucleus modulates the network controlling maternal aggression. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 05/59286-4 - Neural bases for motivated behavior
• Grantee: Newton Sabino Canteras
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 11/02425-3 - The role of the dorsal premammillary nucleus and its main targets in the neuroendocrine and behavioral responses observed after social defeat
• Grantee: Newton Sabino Canteras
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants