Table 1.
Summary of rodent studies investigating central serotonergic effects on maternal behavior. 5-HT = serotonin, CeA = central amygdala, DG = dente gyrus, DR = dorsal raphe, GD = gestation day, LSv = ventrolateral septum, MPOA = medial preoptic area, MR = median raphe, NAc = nucleus accumbens, PAG = periaqueductal grey, PD = postpartum day, mPFC = medial prefrontal cortex
| Serotonin manipulation | When | Species | Findings | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MR lesion | PD1 | Rat | ↓pup retrieval and nursing | Barofsky et al. 1983a |
| DR lesion | PD1 | Rat | ↑pup mortality (impaired lactation) | Barofsky et al. 1983b |
| 5-HT2A/2C agonist to lateral ventricle | PD7 | Rat | ↓maternal aggression | De Almeida et al. 1994 |
| 5-HT1A agonist | Postpartum | Rat | ↓maternal aggression | Olivier et al. 1995 |
| 5-HT2A/2C agonist | ||||
| 5-HT1A agonist in MR, dPAG, amygdala | PD7 | Rat | ↓maternal aggression | De Almeida& Lucien 1997 |
| 5-HT1A agonist to DR and septum | ↑maternal aggression | |||
| Pet1−/− | - | Mouse | ↓pup retrieval, ↓nursing, ↓nest building | Lerch-Haner et al. 2008 |
| TPH2−/− | - | Mouse | ↓pup retrieval, ↓nursing | Alenina et al. 2009/Angoa-Perez et al. 2014 |
| 5-HT2C agonist | PD5, 7, 9 | Rat | ↓pup retrieval, ↓pup licking, ↓nursing, ↓nest building | Chen et al. 2014 |
| 5-HT2A antagonist | No effect of antagonist | |||
| 5-HT2C agonist | PD4–7 | Rat | ↓maternal behaviors due to ↓maternal motivation | Wu et al. 2016 |
| 5-HT2C antagonist | No effect of antagonist | |||
| 5-HT2C agonist to NAc, mPFC, MPOA | No effects on maternal behaviors of microinjections | |||
| 5-HT1A agonist | PD3, 5, 7 | Rat | ↓pup retrieval, ↓pup licking, ↓nest building | Li et al. 2018 |
| 5-HT1A antagonist | -no effect of antagonist | |||
| 5-HT2A agonist | PD8 | Rat | ↓pup retrieval, ↓nest building, ↓hovering | Gao et al. 2018 |
| 5-HT2A antagonist | No effect of antagonist | |||
| 5-HT2A agonist to mPFC or MPOA | Microinjection to mPFC, not MPOA, disrupted maternal behavior | |||
| 5-HT2A agonist | PD4–6/12 | Rat | ↓pup retrieval, ↓pup licking, ↓nursing, ↓nest building, ↑pup preference | Wu et al. 2018 |
| 5-HT cell-body specific lesions of DR | GD15 or PD2 | Rat | GD15: ↑pup licking, ↑hovering over, ↓maternal aggression | Holschbach et al. 2018 |
| PD2: ↓pup licking, ↑kyphosis, ↓supine nursing ↓maternal aggression |