Initiation and maintenance of maternal behavior is driven by a complex interaction between the physiology of parturition and offspring stimulation, causing functional changes in maternal brain and behavior. Maternal behaviors are among the most robust and rewarding motivated behaviors. Mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system alterations during pregnancy and the postpartum enable enhanced reward-related responses to offspring stimuli. Here, we review behavioral evidence demonstrating postpartum rodents exhibit a bias towards pups and pup-related stimuli in reward-related tasks. Next, we provide an overview of normative adaptations in the mesolimbic DA system induced by parturition and the postpartum, which likely mediate shifts in offspring valence. We also discuss a causal link between dopaminergic dysfunction and disrupted maternal behaviors, which are recapitulated in postpartum depression (PPD) and relevant rodent models. In sum, mesolimbic DA system activation drives infant-seeking behavior and strengthens the mother-infant bond, potentially representing a therapeutic target for reward-related deficits in PPD.

中文翻译：

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母亲和产后期间奖励相关行为和中脑边缘多巴胺功能的适应

母体行为的启动和维持是由分娩生理和后代刺激之间复杂的相互作用驱动的，导致母体大脑和行为的功能变化。母性行为是最强大和最有益的动机行为之一。怀孕期间和产后中脑边缘多巴胺 (DA) 系统的改变能够增强对后代刺激的奖励相关反应。在这里，我们回顾了行为证据，证明产后啮齿动物在奖励相关任务中表现出对幼崽和幼崽相关刺激的偏见。接下来，我们概述了由分娩和产后引起的中脑边缘 DA 系统的规范适应，这可能介导了后代效价的变化。我们还讨论了多巴胺能功能障碍和母亲行为紊乱之间的因果关系，在产后抑郁症 (PPD) 和相关啮齿动物模型中进行了概括。总之，中脑边缘 DA 系统激活驱动了寻婴行为并加强了母婴关系，可能代表 PPD 中与奖励相关的缺陷的治疗目标。