The Neurobiology of Parenting: Basic Research

Abstract There has been a substantial amount of growth and progress in basic research on parental neurobiology over the past few years, and much of it has focused on applying basic concepts in parental neurobiology to expand the behavioral scope of parental studies and/or investigate pathological behavioral patterns. This review will focus on selected animal studies of parenting that have been published over the last 3–4 years and consists of five main topic areas that have received substantial attention during this period: neuroendocrinology, neuroanatomy, behavior, transgenerational/epigenetic, and pathological parental models. These studies address important gaps in basic research and investigate several clinically relevant questions which require comprehensive study in animal models. It is hoped that this review will stimulate increased collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians that will have reciprocal translational value.
Source: Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research