A neural substrate for negative affect dictates female parental behavior.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Parental behaviors are vital for offspring well-being and adult emotional regulation.
• The neural circuits underlying parental responses to neonatal distress are not fully understood.
• Negative affect states can arise when managing neonatal distress becomes difficult.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of neuronal circuits in orchestrating parental actions in response to neonatal distress.
• To identify specific neuronal populations involved in processing distress signals and guiding parental behaviors.
• To explore the neurobiological underpinnings of negative affect in the context of parenting.

Main Methods:

• Utilized mouse models (virgin females) to study neuronal activity in the lateral habenula (LHb) in response to pup distress vocalizations.
• Employed optogenetic and chemogenetic techniques to manipulate and track the activity of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis-innervated LHb (BNSTLHb) neurons.
• Conducted intersectional cell identification and transcriptional profiling to characterize BNSTLHb cells and their gene expression patterns.

Main Results:

• Identified specific activity patterns in BNSTLHb neurons correlating with pup distress vocalizations and aversive behaviors in virgin female mice.
• Demonstrated that BNSTLHb neuronal activity is necessary for pup-call-driven aversive behaviors and pup retrieval.
• Found that gene expression in BNSTLHb cells of parenting females resembles that of mothers, distinguishing them from non-parental males.

Conclusions:

• A negative affect neural circuit involving BNSTLHb neurons processes newborn distress signals in female mice.
• This circuit plays a critical role in guiding female parenting behaviors, particularly pup retrieval.
• Understanding these circuits may offer insights into the neurobiology of parental care and negative affect regulation.