Male mice begin to raise their children when they are born, and research by RIKEN and others has shown that a hormone called "oxytocin" secreted in the brain plays an important role in this process. rice field.
This research was published in an overseas scientific journal by a group such as Team Leader Kazunari Miyamichi of RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research.
In the group, male mice that have not experienced mating behave aggressively against young mice, while when the child is born and become a father, they begin parenting behaviors such as bringing the child back to the nest and warming it. I paid attention and investigated the function of the brain at this time in detail.
As a result, it was found that in the mouse that became a father, a part of the neural circuit of the brain was changed and a large amount of hormone called "oxytocin" was secreted.
Furthermore, when the secretion of "oxytocin" was artificially suppressed in the father's mouse, the child was often ignored without raising the child, and conversely, when the male mouse having no experience of copulation secreted "oxytocin", the child was raised. It was also confirmed that they would take action.
"We have verified from various angles that oxytocin is essential for the parenting behavior of male mice. We believe that a similar mechanism may be involved in humans," said Miyamichi team leader. I was talking.