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A prolactin-receptive neural circuit drives maternal interactions with pups in mice.

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Paper

Loaded from Europe PMC by your browser, not stored by OSCR: doi.org · Europe PMC

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The authors' code

Python · 1 line · 0 B · GPL-3.0

__init__.py, under GPL-3.0 · at the source

Overview

Authors: Jenny Clarkson1,2, Michael R Perkinson1,2, Tapasya Pal1,2, Isaiah Cheong1,2, H James McQuillan1,2, Judith M Swart1,3,4, Joon S Kim1,2, Emmet M Power1,2, David R Grattan1,3,5, Rosemary S E Brown1,2
ORCID iDs: Jenny Clarkson, Michael R Perkinson, Tapasya Pal, Isaiah Cheong, Judith M Swart, Emmet M Power, David R Grattan, Rosemary S E Brown
  1. Centre for Neuroendocrinology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  3. Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  4. Department of Primary and Long-term Care, University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG), Groningen, Netherlands
  5. Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
Institutions: University of Otago (New Zealand); University Medical Center Groningen (Netherlands); Maurice Wilkins Centre (New Zealand)
Journal: Science advances, volume 12, issue 28, article eady6498
Dates: received 29 April 2025; accepted 1 June 2026; published online 10 July 2026; in print July 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY-NC
Identifiers: DOI 10.1126/sciadv.ady6498 · PMID 42430478 · PMCID PMC13353358 · OpenAlex W7167954827
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: code verified
Categories: human (organism), mouse (organism), systems (subfield)
Methods: Statistics, Preprocessing, Evoked potentials, Single-unit activity, calcium imaging
MeSH: Maternal Behavior*, Preoptic Area*, Prolactin*, Ventral Tegmental Area*, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Dopamine, Female, Mice, Neurons, Nucleus Accumbens (* major topic)
Topic: Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior (Social Psychology, Psychology), according to OpenAlex
Funding: University of Otago; Royal Society Te Apārangi; Health Research Council of New Zealand (20/470, 19/053, 22/237); Marsden Fund (UOO2101)
Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 55 references in the paper

Abstract

The medial preoptic area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus drives the expression of maternal behaviors. Although prolactin action in the MPOA is essential for the onset of postpartum maternal behavior, it is still unknown how prolactin acts on underlying neural circuitry to modulate different aspects of maternal behavior. Here, we have identified a prolactin-receptive projection from the MPOA to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) that is specifically activated during interactions with pups. Activation of this prolactin-receptive MPOA-VTA projection stimulated increased maternal interactions with pups in virgin female mice, and the removal of prolactin action within this projection prevented the postpartum increase in maternal-pup interactions. Prolactin-receptive MPOA-VTA neurons modulate dopamine release into the nucleus accumbens (NAc), with stimulation of this projecting inducing dopamine release and increased pup interactions and inhibition blocking pup-induced dopamine release into the NAc. These data define a prolactin-receptive neural circuit that engages with reward pathways to drive increased motivation in mothers to interact with newborn offspring.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY-NC), from the paper cited above.

Repositories

Its files are read in the Code ↔ Paper reader above.

Zenodo 14254094

License: GPL-3.0
State: the link answers, verified on 27 September 2026
Evidence: files inventoried
Size: 3 files
Software Heritage: not checked
Found in: “Data, code, and materials availability:”
Not found: README, license file, CITATION.cff, environment file, tests, continuous integration, documentation
Tools: pandas (3 files), Matplotlib (2 files), NumPy (2 files), SciPy (2 files)
Availability: 1 check, the latest on 27 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
  • 27 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
14 files
At the source: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14254094

Michael-Perkinson/NeuroSyncApp

License: GPL-3.0
State: the link answers, verified on 27 September 2026
Evidence: files inventoried
Commit: cc4dc5000a4f9328d0365797cc78d488cdd75a9e, 22 September 2026
Languages: Python (165)
Size: 193 files, 165 scripts
Software Heritage: not archived
Found in: the text, “GCaMP fiber photometry”
Holds: README, license file, environment (pyproject.toml), tests, continuous integration, documentation
Not found: CITATION.cff
Tools: pandas (61 files), NumPy (35 files), Matplotlib (18 files), SciPy (5 files)
Availability: 1 check, the latest on 27 September 2026: the link answers
  • 27 September 2026: the link answers
167 files
At the source: github.com/Michael-Perkinson/NeuroSyncApp

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

Tracing map

Proposed by the machine: these links were found in the paper and verified at the source, without human review. The map will receive a Zenodo DOI once one of the paper's authors has validated it with their ORCID.

What the map holds:

  • 2 repositories of the authors' code, each at its verified commit, with its license and how the link was found in the paper;
  • 178 scripts, each with its path and the digest of its content;
  • no match between paragraphs and code yet;
  • neither the text of the paper nor the code itself.

Its JSON (tracing-map.json) is deposited on Zenodo with its DOI once the map is validated.

Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data, code, and materials availability

All data and code needed to evaluate and reproduce the results in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials. Code is available from Zenodo (NeuroSyncApp; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14254094). This study did not generate new materials.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY-NC), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 2, 28 September 2026

  • Funding: added University of Otago; Royal Society Te Apārangi; Health Research Council of New Zealand: 20/470, 19/053, 22/237; Marsden Fund: UOO2101

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 10 authors, 11 MeSH terms, 52 references.

Cite

This paper

Clarkson, J., Perkinson, M. R., Pal, T., Cheong, I., McQuillan, H. J., Swart, J. M., Kim, J. S., Power, E. M., Grattan, D. R., & Brown, R. S. E. (2026). A prolactin-receptive neural circuit drives maternal interactions with pups in mice. Science advances, 12(28), eady6498. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady6498

BibTeX

@article{clarkson2026prolactin,
author = {Clarkson, Jenny and Perkinson, Michael R and Pal, Tapasya and Cheong, Isaiah and McQuillan, H James and Swart, Judith M and Kim, Joon S and Power, Emmet M and Grattan, David R and Brown, Rosemary S E},
title = {{A prolactin-receptive neural circuit drives maternal interactions with pups in mice}},
journal = {Science advances},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
volume = {12},
number = {28},
pages = {eady6498},
publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science},
issn = {2375-2548},
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.ady6498},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady6498},
pmid = {42430478},
pmcid = {PMC13353358}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Clarkson, Jenny
AU - Perkinson, Michael R
AU - Pal, Tapasya
AU - Cheong, Isaiah
AU - McQuillan, H James
AU - Swart, Judith M
AU - Kim, Joon S
AU - Power, Emmet M
AU - Grattan, David R
AU - Brown, Rosemary S E
TI - A prolactin-receptive neural circuit drives maternal interactions with pups in mice
T2 - Science advances
J2 - Sci Adv
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/10
VL - 12
IS - 28
SP - eady6498
SN - 2375-2548
PB - American Association for the Advancement of Science
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.ady6498
UR - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady6498
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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