Parents induced- conditioned place preference and the neuronal expression of oxytocin and tyrosine hydroxylase in preweanling female pups

Parents-offspring bonding is critical for development of offspring in mammals. While it is known that pups stimuli provide rewarding effects on their parents, few studies have assessed whether parental stimuli serve as a reinforcing agent to their pups, and what the neural mechanisms underlying this reward process may be. In addition to maternal care, male ICR mice display pairmate-dependent parental behavior. Using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm, we examined the effects of maternal and paternal conditioning on the postnatal day 17-21 female ICR mice pups, and compared the expression of oxytocin (OT)- and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)- immunoreactive (IR) neurons. We found that the pups established dam- or sire- induced CPP when using mother conditioning (MC) or father conditioning (FC) alone. However, the pups failed to show any preference when using mother versus father conditioning (MFC). Compared to the control group, the MC and MFC groups displayed more OT-IR neurons in the supraoptic nucleus and more TH-IR neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The FC group showed more TH-IR neurons in the VTA compared to the control group, but there were no significant differences in OT-IR neurons. These findings indicate that female ICR mice pups may establish mother- or father- induced CPP. The underpinnings of preference for parents are associated with the activity of VTA dopaminergic neurons, and the preference of pups for mother in particular appears to be associated with OT levels.