Parenting is essential for the survival and wellbeing of mammalian offspring. However, we lack a circuit-level understanding of how distinct components of this behaviour are coordinated. Here we investigate how galanin-expressing neurons in the medial preoptic area (MPOAGal) of the hypothalamus coordinate motor, motivational, hormonal and social aspects of parenting in mice. These neurons integrate inputs from a large number of brain areas and the activation of these inputs depends on the animal’s sex and reproductive state. Subsets of MPOAGal neurons form discrete pools that are defined by their projection sites. While the MPOAGal population is active during all episodes of parental behaviour, individual pools are tuned to characteristic aspects of parenting. Optogenetic manipulation of MPOAGal projections mirrors this specificity, affecting discrete parenting components. This functional organization, reminiscent of the control of motor sequences by pools of spinal cord neurons, provides a new model for how discrete elements of a social behaviour are generated at the circuit level.Galanin-expressing neurons in the medial preoptic area coordinate different aspects of motor, motivational, hormonal and social behaviour associated with parenting by projecting to different brain regions depending on the type of behaviour and sex and reproductive state of mice.

中文翻译：

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父母行为背后的功能电路架构

养育子女对于哺乳动物后代的生存和福祉至关重要。然而，我们缺乏对这种行为的不同组成部分如何协调的电路级理解。在这里，我们研究下丘脑内侧视前区 (MPOAGal) 中表达甘丙肽的神经元如何协调小鼠养育的运动、动机、激素和社会方面。这些神经元整合了来自大量大脑区域的输入，这些输入的激活取决于动物的性别和生殖状态。MPOAGal 神经元的子集形成由它们的投影位点定义的离散池。虽然 MPOAGal 群体在所有父母行为期间都处于活跃状态，但个别群体会针对养育子女的特征方面进行调整。MPOAGal 投影的光遗传学操作反映了这种特异性，影响离散的育儿组件。这种功能性组织让人想起脊髓神经元池对运动序列的控制，为在电路水平如何产生社会行为的离散元素提供了一个新模型。内侧视前区中表达甘丙肽的神经元协调不同方面的神经元根据小鼠的行为类型、性别和生殖状态，投射到不同的大脑区域，从而产生与育儿相关的运动、动机、荷尔蒙和社会行为。