Post-weaning infant-to-mother bonding in nutritionally independent female mice

Mother-Young Bonding: Neurobiological Aspects and Maternal Biochemical Signaling in Altricial Domesticated Mammals

Mother-young bonding is a type of early learning where the female and their newborn recognize each other through a series of neurobiological mechanisms and neurotransmitters that establish a behavioral preference for filial individuals. This process is essential to promote their welfare by providing maternal care, particularly in altricial species, animals that require extended parental care due to their limited neurodevelopment at birth. Olfactory, auditory, tactile, and visual stimuli trigger the neural integration of multimodal sensory and conditioned affective associations in mammals. This review aims to discuss the neurobiological aspects of bonding processes in altricial mammals, with a focus on the brain structures and neurotransmitters involved and how these influence the signaling during the first days of the life of newborns.

Activation of the medial preoptic area (MPOA) ameliorates loss of maternal behavior in a Shank2 mouse model for autism

Impairments in social relationships and awareness are features observed in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Shank2 is a high‐confidence ASD candidate gene and localizes primarily to postsynaptic densities (PSDs) of excitatory synapses in the central nervous system (CNS). We show here that loss of Shank2 in mice leads to a lack of social attachment and bonding behavior towards pubs independent of hormonal, cognitive, or sensitive deficits. Shank2^−/− mice display functional changes in nuclei of the social attachment circuit that were most prominent in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus. Selective enhancement of MPOA activity by DREADD technology re‐established social bonding behavior in Shank2^−/− mice, providing evidence that the identified circuit might be crucial for explaining how social deficits in ASD can arise.

A learning theory of attachment: Unraveling the black box of attachment development

Attachment is an inborn behavioral system that is biologically driven and essential for survival. During child development, individual differences in (in)secure attachment emerge. The development of different attachment behaviors has been traditionally explained as a process during which experiences with (lack of) responsive and supportive care are internalized into working models of attachment. However, this idea has been criticized for being vague and even untestable. With the aim of unraveling this black box, we propose to integrate evidence from conditioning research with attachment theory to formulate a Learning Theory of Attachment. In this review, we explain how the development of individual differences in attachment security at least partly follows the principles of classical and operant conditioning. We combine observed associations between attachment and neurocognitive and endocrinological (cortisol, oxytocin, and dopamine) processes with insights in conditioning dynamics to explain the development of attachment. This may contribute to the explanation of empirical observations in attachment research that are insufficiently accounted for by traditional attachment theory.