Animal experiments have revealed the brain mechanisms that drive maternal sex

in the animal world, female breeding is critical to the survival of cubs. A study published in
new issue of The New York Times shows that the "instinct" of female mice to hold young mice back into their nests stems from the signaling of a particular nerve cell.
previous studies have found that the "inner frontal region" of the brain is an important area associated with maternal sexual behavior, but the specific mechanisms of neural signaling are not clear.
new experiment, a team from the Institute of Neuroscience at New York University School of Medicine looked at the activity of female mice in their brains" as they interacted with their own and other "mouse babies." It was found that female mice were most active in the process of approaching the "baby rat" and holding it back into the nest, and that the level of the electrical signal decreased once the "baby mouse" returned to the nest, a protein electrical signal called the "estrogen-like alpha" in the "inner frontal area".
study found that if these cell activity is chemically blocked, the female mice's "guard" behavior disappears. If these cell activities are artificially activated, similar maternal behavior occurs in "undete" female mice.Lin Daewoo, senior author of the
paper, told Xinhua that the study found that "rat mothers" could not distinguish between "rat babies" at home or in other homes, because "rat babies" mobility is not strong, the emergence of other "rat babies" is rare. But "sheep mother" can be divided from home or other "sheep baby", Lin Daewoo speculated that this is because "sheep mother" olfactory organ sub-olfactory ball involved in the identification of the cub behavior.
said the team's next step is to study what changes in the female's brain during the birth and lactation of offspring lead to active protein expression, and whether similar mechanisms exist in males during that time. (Source: Xinhua News Agency Zhou Zhou)