NEURAL CONTROL OF MATERNAL-BEHAVIOR AND OLFACTORY RECOGNITION OF OFFSPRING

In terms of reproductive success the quality and duration of maternal care exhibited by any particular species is of paramount importance, a nd yet compared with the amount of research studying the control of re productive cycles, sexual behaviour, and fertility, it has historicall y received considerably less attention. However, we are now beginning to understand how the brain is organised to mediate this complex behav iour and how its expression is orchestrated by different hormonal and neurochemical factors. This review summarises a series of neuroanatomi cal, electrophysiological, in vivo sampling and behavioural neuropharm acological experiments carried out in sheep. These have attempted to d efine the neural circuitry and hormonal neurotransmitter systems invol ved both in the control of maternal behavoiur per se and in the select ive olfactory recognition of lambs, which is the basis of an exclusive emotional bond between mother and offspring. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scienc e Inc.