Citation

Kohl J, Autry AE, Dulac C. Bioessays 2016; 39(1): 1-11.

Affiliation

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, International Council of Scientific Unions, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/bies.201600159

PMID

27921311

Abstract

Social interactions are essential for animals to reproduce, defend their territory, and raise their young. The conserved nature of social behaviors across animal species suggests that the neural pathways underlying the motivation for, and the execution of, specific social responses are also maintained. Modern tools of neuroscience have offered new opportunities for dissecting the molecular and neural mechanisms controlling specific social responses. We will review here recent insights into the neural circuits underlying a particularly fascinating and important form of social interaction, that of parental care. We will discuss how these findings open new avenues to deconstruct infant-directed behavioral control in males and females, and to help understand the neural basis of parenting in a variety of animal species, including humans.

© 2016 The Authors BioEssays Published by WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en