According to research published in JNeurosci, male voles exhibit parental behavior similar to females. This is due to the existence of connections between dopamine neurons in reward regions and oxytocin neurons within their hypothalamus.While motherhood is the focus of most research, 5% of mammals, including humans, provide care. Although the "love hormone" Oxytocin is a factor in paternal care and the neural pathways that underlie it are not yet known.He et. He et al. measured the neural activity during interaction between vole fathers and their offspring. The hypothalamus is connected to the reward area by oxytocin neurons. This area fires when fathers take care of their offspring. The stimulation of oxytocin neuron activity increased paternal behavior, and inhibiting them decreased paternal behavior. The fathers who cared for their children had less dopamine released in the reward zone due to the inhibition of the pathway. These pathways are also responsible for promoting motherhood in female animals. The understanding of the paternal care pathways could help to address paternal postpartum depression and paternal abuse.###Paper title: Paraventricular nucleus Oxytocin sub-systems promote active paternal behaviors in Mandarin VolesJNeurosciJNeurosci was the Society for Neuroscience's original journal. It was established in 1981 to share the results of high-quality neuroscience research with the expanding field. The journal is committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience with a lasting scientific impact. It also responds to changing publishing requirements of authors, representing diversity in authorship and breadth.About the Society for NeuroscienceThe Society for Neuroscience, the largest international organization of neuroscientists and physicians dedicated to the study of the brain and nervous systems, is the Society for Neuroscience. This non-profit organization was founded in 1969 and has over 37,000 members in more that 90 countries. There are also 130 chapters around the world.
