Sex and Age Differences in Ontogeny of Alloparenting: A Relation to Forebrain DRD1, DRD2, and HTR2A mRNA Expression?

Autor: Huang Y; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China., Qing R; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China., Yang Y; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China., Li M; Department of Psychology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China., Gao J; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.; Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Developmental psychobiology [Dev Psychobiol] 2024 Sep; Vol. 66 (6), pp. e22524.
DOI: 10.1002/dev.22524
Abstrakt: Alloparenting refers to the practice of caring for the young by individuals other than their biological parents. The relationship between the dynamic changes in psychological functions underlying alloparenting and the development of specific neuroreceptors remains unclear. Using a classic 10-day pup sensitization procedure, together with a pup preference and pup retrieval test on the EPM (elevated plus maze), we showed that both male and female adolescent rats (24 days old) had significantly shorter latency than adult rats (65 days old) to be alloparental, and their motivation levels for pups and objects were also significantly higher. In contrast, adult rats retrieved more pups than adolescent rats even though they appeared to be more anxious on the EPM. Analysis of mRNA expression using real-time-PCR revealed a higher dopamine D 2 receptor (DRD2) receptor expression in adult hippocampus, amygdala, and ventral striatum, along with higher dopamine D 1 receptor (DRD1) receptor expression in ventral striatum compared to adolescent rats. Adult rats also showed significantly higher levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2A (HTR2A) receptor expression in the medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, ventral striatum, and hypothalamus. These results suggest that the faster onset of alloparenting in adolescent rats compared to adult rats, along with the psychological functions involved, may be mediated by varying levels of dopamine DRD1, DRD2, and HTR2A in different forebrain regions.
(© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: