Brain complexity: instinct controls in mice (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, September 10, 2020, 19:09 (1535 days ago) @ David Turell

Another control over parenting is found:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02586-w?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_c...

“Catherine Dulac has done amazing work that has really transformed the field,” says biologist Lauren O’Connell, at Stanford University, California. Dulac’s team provided the first evidence that male and female mouse brains have the same neural circuitry associated with parenting, which is just triggered differently in each sex1. “It went against the dogma that for decades said that male and female brains are organized differently,” says O’Connell.

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"In the 1990s, Dulac isolated the pheromone receptors in mice that govern sex-specific social behaviours. Virgin male mice usually attack other males and kill pups. But Dulac found that if their pheromone receptors were blocked, they would attempt to mate with both males and females, and virgin males would even care for pups. Pheromone-blind females, by contrast, would attempt to mount males.

"To elucidate the neural mechanisms at play, Dulac identified a protein called galanin that is expressed by neurons involved in parenting. Killing the neurons in females stopped them parenting, while activating them in virgin males made them maternal. “It’s like an on-and-off switch for parenting,” says Dulac. “It’s extraordinary.” Her team then used the galanin marker to track the specific circuitry associated with the motivational, hormonal and behavioural changes needed for nurturing.

"O’Connell says that the studies “set the stage for a better understanding of the flexibility of human and primate brains”, and could one day be relevant for treating disorders such as post-partum depression."

Comment: The male and female brains are the same neurologically except for the female neurons that make galanin. Female mice have no concept that previous pleasurable sex with a male produced her pups later on. But parenting is essential for survival. How did galanin arrive through evolution? Not from mouse thought. Not by chance. This vital function must be designed.