Neural circuit plasticity transforms infant neglect into maternal care

Neural circuit plasticity transforms infant neglect into maternal care | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Biological Sciences - Article Neural circuit plasticity transforms infant neglect into maternal care Robert Froemke, Chloe Bair-Marshall, Naomi Cassel, Ayat Agha, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5983736/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Infants in distress evoke strong emotional responses in adults, which help to elicit caretaking behaviors from parents to ensure infant needs are met1–3. However, neonatal care can also be challenging, and interactions with infants can lead to stress and negative affect even in potential caregivers4–7. Child neglect and maltreatment rates in human populations make it important to understand the neural mechanisms of regulating negative emotions and stress in the parental brain8–10. Here we show how rapid plasticity in female mouse central amygdala (CeA) transforms infant aversion into attentiveness after initial pup experience. Projections from CeA to locus coeruleus (CeA→LC) were strongly activated upon initial pup contact leading to pup aversion. CeA→LC pup responses were reduced with parental experience and down-regulating CeA→LC activity led to less aversion. Oxytocin signaling in central amygdala was required to switch pup aversion to attention, inducing rapid long-term depression of excitatory inputs onto projection neurons. CeA→LC projectors released the stress hormone corticotropin-releasing factor onto LC neurons, modulating phasic firing to regulate attention. This circuit organization enables local CeA computations of pup valence to be broadcast throughout the brain by the LC central arousal system, leading to appropriate pup-directed behaviors depending on adult state. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Social neuroscience Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Emotion/Amygdala Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Synaptic plasticity/Long-term depression Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5983736","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Biological Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":418834332,"identity":"d2eb4172-4913-42c4-ada8-c2255f07f161","order_by":0,"name":"Robert Froemke","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHjDJDyIYGxhsgFQCVOYAPi0JDJINEC1ppGs5TFiLeXvvwceVPxgkzNubj26cUXE+mp89ge0xbxuDHN+NBKxaZM6cSzY8k8AgIXPmWNrNDWdu587secBuDNRiLIlDi4REjplkQwJDHYhx82Hb7dwNNxLYpIFaEjfg1mL+E6hFQkIi/9vNh//O5e6HaqnHo8WMEaIlh+3mxoYDuRskIFoSDHBp4TmXLNmQBtTBc8zs5oxjybkzzjxsk5xzTsJw5pkH2LWw9x782GBjIyHB3vzsZk+NXW5/e/IxiTdlNvJ8x7HbAtOJzGFsYOJBFSECMP4gUcMoGAWjYBQMawAAdSxg+g0/eOsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1230-6811","institution":"New York University Grossman School of Medicine","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Robert","middleName":"","lastName":"Froemke","suffix":""},{"id":418834333,"identity":"948dfd35-6f92-4126-8fb3-62a613fb1170","order_by":1,"name":"Chloe Bair-Marshall","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6458-3266","institution":"New York University School of Medicine","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chloe","middleName":"","lastName":"Bair-Marshall","suffix":""},{"id":418834334,"identity":"0b158b87-1cdf-449c-8c77-d6df2564ce2d","order_by":2,"name":"Naomi Cassel","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"New York University Grossman School of Medicine","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Naomi","middleName":"","lastName":"Cassel","suffix":""},{"id":418834335,"identity":"487a6d9c-153b-460f-89a0-11297f9ad1c7","order_by":3,"name":"Ayat Agha","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"New York University Grossman School of Medicine","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ayat","middleName":"","lastName":"Agha","suffix":""},{"id":418834336,"identity":"8c46eb73-8ea3-4613-8b8f-48f3fa28254e","order_by":4,"name":"Malak Bkhiet","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"New York University Grossman School of Medicine","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Malak","middleName":"","lastName":"Bkhiet","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-02-07 20:30:40","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5983736/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5983736/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81733452,"identity":"0ebcc05b-3c99-4769-bdab-1dd19c7f7406","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 20:03:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2892345,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"BairMarshalletalmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5983736/v1_covered_ef750416-b218-4784-8880-8f24e957e4cb.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Neural circuit plasticity transforms infant neglect into maternal care","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5983736/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5983736/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Infants in distress evoke strong emotional responses in adults, which help to elicit caretaking behaviors from parents to ensure infant needs are met1–3. 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