Brain coding of maternal motivation: the role of the tail of the ventral tegmental area

Brain coding of maternal motivation: the role of the tail of the ventral tegmental area | 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 Research Article Brain coding of maternal motivation: the role of the tail of the ventral tegmental area Clara Pérez-Gozalbo, Julia Lara Gutiérrez-Arroyo, Manuela Barneo-Muñoz, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6578706/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Brain Structure and Function → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Motherhood entails brain and behavioral changes associated with increased motivation for pups, ensuring their correct development and survival. Dopamine systems play a crucial role in motivated behaviors, although the exact neurobiological mechanisms underlying maternal behavior remain unknown. The tail of the ventral tegmental area (tVTA) or rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) is a control center of dopamine systems involved in avoidance and prediction error, among other brain processes. In the present study, we explored its possible contribution in maternal motivation in rats. To do so, we analyzed maternal behavior, as well as the expression of cFos in several brain regions (tVTA/RMTg, anterior and posterior VTA, shell and core ACb, mPFC, LHb, MePD, MPO) of virgin and dam rats in response to pups (Virgin-P, DamP) or to pup-predicting cues (absence of pups) (Virgin-NP, Dam-NP). Overall, our results reveal that maternal behavior was only displayed by lactating females, whereas virgins did not display maternal sensitization in our experimental conditions. Regarding the activity of specific brain regions, we show that pup-predicting cues induce higher cFos in the tVTA/RMTg of pup-deprived dams compared to non-pup deprived dams and to virgin females, suggesting a role of the tVTA/RMTg in maternal reward prediction error. By contrast, pup exposure or deprivation elicit not huge differences on the recruitment of other dopamine and social-related brain regions in our experimental females. Finally, the correlation analysis of activity of brain regions mainly highlights positive correlations in pup-exposed females and scarce correlations in pup-deprived females. Tail of the ventral tegmental area (tVTA) rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) maternal motivation reward prediction error dopamine rat Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Brain Structure and Function → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 29 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 27 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 20 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 May, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 07 May, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 06 May, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 03 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 02 May, 2025 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-6578706","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":454854109,"identity":"3bf489e8-60c2-4b37-97d1-ad777e9832f1","order_by":0,"name":"Clara Pérez-Gozalbo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universitat Jaume I de Castellón (UJI)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Clara","middleName":"","lastName":"Pérez-Gozalbo","suffix":""},{"id":454854110,"identity":"cab9d178-2194-44a5-9daf-0c3bd2fd62fc","order_by":1,"name":"Julia Lara Gutiérrez-Arroyo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universitat Jaume I de 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