Table 1.

Summary of pharmacological manipulations and gene knockouts affecting parental behavior.

Pharmacological Intervention
Factor	Brain area	Effect on parental behavior	References
Estrogen	MPOA	Enhanced retrieval	[17,33]
Oxytocin	Auditory cortex		[36]
Oxytocin	VTA and MPOA		[37]
Oxytocin	MPOA and VTA		[121]
Vasopressin	Intracerebroventricular		[37]
Prostaglandin F2α	Intracerebroventricular		[37]
Prolactin	MPOA		[44]
Dopamine receptor antagonist	Nucleus accumbens	Decreased maternal retrieving and grooming	[122–124]
GABA receptor agonist	Lateral septum	Increased maternal aggression	[125]
Corticotropin releasing factor	Lateral septum	Decreased maternal aggression	[126]
Urocortin 1 and Urocortin 3	Intracerebroventricular		[127]
Mu opioid receptor antagonist	Intracerebroventricular	Slower maternal responses	[128]
Gene Knockout
Gene		Effect on parental behavior	References
Prolactin receptor		Impaired retrieval behavior in virgin females, impaired pup recognition in fathers	[47,129]
Estrogen receptor α		Increased infanticide in virgin females	[66]
TrpC2		Decreased pup interaction in females, decreased maternal aggression, increased paternal behavior in virgin males	[106]
Peg3		Reduced retrieval	[130]
Mest			[131]
GABA receptorƍ		Reduced retrieval and pup survival (lactating dams but not virgin females)	[132]
Corticotropin releasing factor receptor 2		Decreased maternal aggression	[133]
Dopamine beta-hydroxylase		Decreased maternal retrieval and reduced pup survival	[134]
FosB		Decreased retrieval and grooming	[135]