Nists disrupt retrieval andBrain Sci. 2021, 11,9 oflicking of pups in rats when injected in the nucleus accumbens [46,127,128], as well as inside the MPOA [129]. The region on the nucleus accumbens vital for pup-retrieval behavior appears to become the shell [130], which seems to be involved within the consolidation of maternal memory [131,132]. Even with some subtle variations, dopamine receptor antagonists modify parental behavior even in prairie voles [133]. Dopamine inside the nucleus accumbens was also linked to rats’ maternal behavior [134], especially, pup licking/grooming [35]. Based on this proof, some authors suggested that the neural method controlling maternal behavior in rats could overlap together with the dopamine circuit of rewards within the brain [13538]. The neural model developed to explain the mechanisms with which the MPOA controls maternal behavior included two paths of actions [37]. In the initial 1, the activated MPOA would inhibit a central aversion system accountable for defensive and avoiding PI4KIIIβ Formulation behaviors towards pups. In the second, the MPOA would act by thrilling the mesolimbic dopamine technique so that you can promote voluntary maternal responses [13941]. Consequently, some references within the cluster were cited due to the fact they explored the properties of your dopamine mesolimbic circuit [14248]. The neural model of maternal behavior was refined inside the assessment written by Numan and Stolzenberg [33]. Here, the authors discussed the interaction between the dopamine program and the MPOA [149]. In particular, they reported findings suggesting that the MPOA activates the shell region on the nucleus accumbens through mesolimbic PPARγ Accession dopaminergic inputs to be able to control elements of maternal appetitive behavior [43]. To facilitate the effect with the MPOA around the nucleus accumbens, dopamine from the incerto-hypothalamic technique interacts with steroid and peptide hormones to finally act around the MPOA [150,151]. For this reason, a part of the references in the cluster were cited because they studied the effects of steroid or peptide hormones on parental behavior [115,119,15259]. As a matter of reality, some of these molecules look to be critical for maternal aggression aimed at defending offspring [16065]. If dopamine levels in MPOA appear to enhance during lactation [166], the neural origin of such molecular inputs was debated. For example, Miller and Lonstein [167] didn’t uncover a considerable number of dopaminergic terminals arriving at the MPOA in the zona incerta with the brain, but discovered them in other brain regions, for instance the ventrocaudal posterior hypothalamus, the medial supramammillary nucleus and a part of the ventral tegmental location. In truth, the causal function on the ventral tegmental region, a vital region in the mesolimbic circuit whose activity is regulated by GABAergic and glutamatergic connections from the bed nucleus in the stria terminalis [16870], in maternal behavior is documented by Numan et al. [171]. Within this regard, a temporary inactivation of the ventral tegmental region in postpartum female rats interferes with all the preference for pup-paired context inside a conditioned location preference paradigm and lowered pup licking and pup retrieval behaviors [172]. In the same way, the inhibition with the medial prefrontal cortex negatively affected the pup retrieval behavior in maternal rats [173]. The motivational viewpoint around the female’s response to her offspring started to grow following the trend of analysis inside the 2010s. It became clear that in that period, instant.