Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Profiling Maternal Behavior Responses During Whole-Brain Imaging
Published on: January 24, 2025
Litter gender composition affects maternal behavior of the primiparous mouse dam (Mus musculus)
E Alleva1, A Caprioli, G Laviola
1Section of Behavioural Pathophysiology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Thirty-nine litters of the outbred Swiss CD-1 mouse strain were reduced at birth to 6 pups, according to three conditions: MM (all males), MF (3 males and 3 females), or FF (all females). The maternal behavior of their respective dams (frequency and duration of nursing, licking, nest-building, and other activities such as eating, drinking, sniffing, grooming, and undirected locomotor activity) were scored during a single 10-min session on Days 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 18. Dams rearing MM litters showed higher scores of maternal care on Days 2 and 18 in the case of nursing, on Days 2, 7, and 10 in the case of nest-building, and on Day 18 in the case of licking. These results confirm previous rat data, which indicated that male and female pups are exposed early in infancy to a different pattern of maternal behavior. Concomitant measurements of pup development (body-weight gain and achievement of a number of physiological and neurobehavioral landmarks) indicated that these effects of litter gender composition are not mediated by gross changes in the maturational trends of the pups.
Thirty-nine litters of the outbred Swiss CD-1 mouse strain were reduced at birth to 6 pups, according to three conditions: MM (all males), MF (3 males and 3 females), or FF (all females). The maternal behavior of their respective dams (frequency and duration of nursing, licking, nest-building, and other activities such as eating, drinking, sniffing, grooming, and undirected locomotor activity) were scored during a single 10-min session on Days 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 18. Dams rearing MM litters showed higher scores of maternal care on Days 2 and 18 in the case of nursing, on Days 2, 7, and 10 in the case of nest-building, and on Day 18 in the case of licking. These results confirm previous rat data, which indicated that male and female pups are exposed early in infancy to a different pattern of maternal behavior. Concomitant measurements of pup development (body-weight gain and achievement of a number of physiological and neurobehavioral landmarks) indicated that these effects of litter gender composition are not mediated by gross changes in the maturational trends of the pups.
More Related Videos
11:05Author Spotlight: A Battery of Highly Reproducible Behavioral Tests to Validate an Angelman Syndrome Murine Model
Published on: October 20, 2023
09:49Assessment of Perigenital Sensitivity and Prostatic Mast Cell Activation in a Mouse Model of Neonatal Maternal Separation
Published on: August 13, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Classifying Matter by Composition
According to its composition, the matter can be classified into two broad categories — pure substances and mixtures.
A pure substance is a form of matter that has a constant composition throughout with uniform properties. For example, any sample of sucrose has the same composition and same physical properties, such as melting point, color, and sweetness, regardless of the source from which it is isolated.
A mixture is composed of two or...
Design Example: Creating a Hydraulic Model of a Dam Spillway
What is Behavior?
Composite Bodies
Composite bodies have widespread applications in mechanical engineering, from automobiles to aircraft to rockets. For example, an automobile wheel comprises...
Composition of Blood
Formed elements constitute the remaining 45% of the blood volume. These...