近日在《自然》杂志上发表的一项小鼠研究揭示了催产素如何通过调节大脑对显著听觉信号的反应影响母性行为。其他形式的社会行为被认为背后也存在同样的现象。幼鼠被从窝里拿出来和母亲分开时,会发出超声求救信号,有经验的母亲会用这种信号定位和找到幼鼠。美国纽约大学Robert Froemke和同事发现,老鼠母亲对哭声的反应,与左侧听觉皮层中兴奋和抑制的神经活动的受控模式有关。这个反应在没有怀孕过的雌鼠大脑中很罕见,它们 A recent study published in the journal Nature revealed how oxytocin affects maternal behavior by modulating the brain’s response to significant auditory signals. Other forms of social behavior are considered the same behind the phenomenon. When the baby is taken out of his nest and separated from her mother, an ultrasound distress signal is sent out by the experienced mother who uses it to locate and find the baby. Robert Froemke and colleagues at the University of New York in the United States found that the reaction of mouse mothers to cries was linked to a controlled mode of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal activity in the left auditory cortex. This reaction is rare in the brain of non-pregnant female mice