Mesolimbic dopamine signaling mediates increased hedonic feeding and food seeking in lactating mice

Lactation dramatically increases energy intake to support milk production and care for the offspring. However, the behavioral and neural circuit mechanisms driving heightened feeding during lactation remain unclear. Here, we reveal that lactation increases food-seeking behavior and enhances palatable food intake in mice. Fiber photometry recordings demonstrate increased dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens in lactating animals during feeding tasks. This elevated dopamine signaling is ultimately required for promoting both food seeking and palatable food intake during lactation as pharmacological inhibition of dopamine receptors or chemogenetic inhibition of VTA dopamine neurons both reduce food seeking and palatable food intake in lactating mice to non-lactating levels. Further, selective inhibition of dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens produces similar results. Together, these findings provide a circuit basis mediating elevated food seeking and palatable food intake during lactation, providing novel insights into the regulation of maternal energy balance and feeding behavior.