Deck 7: Parental Behavior

Question 1

A male rat is given pups daily for 10 days, until he begins to act "paternal." This process is called

A) concatenation.
B) concaveation.
C) kyphosis.
D) mastication.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Among eutherian mammals, offspring that are mobile shortly after they are born are _______, young that are usually hairless when born are _______, and newborns that are carried by their mothers are _______.

A) altricial; precocial; semi-precocial
B) precocial; altricial; semi-precocial
C) semi-precocial; altricial; precocial
D) precocial; semi-precocial; marsupial

Answer 2

B

Question 3

As rat pups become older and can regulate their own body temperature, the duration of a nursing bout is believed to be mediated by

A) the mother's body temperature.
B) the pulsatile release of prolactin.
C) corticosterone concentrations.
D) estrogen concentrations.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

During pregnancy in the rat,

A) progesterone levels are high.
B) prolactin levels are low.
C) estradiol levels progressively increase.
D) All of the above

Question 5

Lesioning which of the following will promote maternal behavior in the female rat?

A) Nucleus Meynert
B) Medial nuclei of the amygdala
C) Occipital lobe
D) Hippocampus

Question 6

What hormone rescues the corpus luteum from regression during pregnancy?

A) High estrogen concentrations
B) Human chorionic gonadotrophin
C) High chorionic gonadotropin concentrations
D) LH and FSH

Question 7

What organ takes over progesterone production when the corpus luteum begins to fail during the last two trimesters of human pregnancy?

A) Cervix
B) Graafian follicle
C) Corpus hemorrhagicum
D) Placenta

Question 8

Which of the following is true of the relationship between the developmental state of an animal at birth and the amount of parental care it receives postpartum?

A) Altricial animals receive more parental care than precocial.
B) Precocial animals receive more parental care than altricial.
C) Interstitial animals receive more parental care than altricial, but less than precocial.
D) None of the above

Question 9

Which statement is false?

A) Nulliparous female rats will exhibit maternal behavior if exposed to rat pups for 5-6 days.
B) Nulliparous female rats will exhibit maternal behavior if exposed to rat pups for one day.
C) Immediately after birth, primiparous female rats will exhibit maternal behavior upon a single exposure to rat pups.
D) Prior to puberty, all female rats will exhibit maternal behavior one day after being exposed to rat pups.

Question 10

Lesions of the medial preoptic area

A) eliminate maternal behavior.
B) hasten the effects of concaveation.
C) evokes paternal behavior in rats.
D) stimulates maternal behavior.

Question 11

Which of the following best describes the phenomenon of concaveation?

A) A mother rat ignores her pup when reintroduced following a few days of separation.
B) A mother rat recognizes her pup when reintroduced following a few days of separation.
C) A pup ignores his rat mother when reintroduced following a few days of separation.
D) An adult female rat that has never been pregnant will develop a set of maternal behaviors following a few days of housing with foster pups.

Question 12

Which of the following is expected to have the smallest medial preoptic area (MPOA) volume in California rats?

A) Mother rat
B) Virgin male rat
C) Nulliparous female rat
D) Father rat

Question 13

Which structure is not part of the vomeronasal organ-MPOA pathway?

A) Lateral optic tract
B) BNST
C) Olfactory bulb
D) Amygdala

Question 14

Which of the following is not one of the three major components of rat maternal care?

A) Licking
B) Adopting nursing posture
C) Keeping pups in the nest
D) Patrolling territorial borders

Question 15

In humans, which hormone is increased during pregnancy and stays elevated until the end of nursing?

A) Progesterone
B) Prolactin
C) Estriol
D) Estradiol

Question 16

List three hormones involved in the onset of maternal behavior in rats.

Question 17

List three neural sites involved in the regulation of maternal behavior in rats.

Question 18

Briefly describe the differences among the following mammalian maternal behaviors: marsupials, monotremes, and eutherians.

Question 19

Describe the differences between precocial and altricial young. Describe the co-variation between parental behavior and the stage of development at which mammals are born.

Question 20

What do the concaveation studies tell us, if anything, about the neural circuits mediating maternal behavior in rats?

Question 21

Explain how parental "style" might be transferred mother-to-offspring non-genomically.

Question 22

Describe and discuss how estrogen to progesterone ratios influence maternal behavior (low and high attachment).

Question 23

Describe how thermoregulation in rat pups is carried out during high and low ambient temperatures when one of the pups is placed under anesthesia. Explain why.

Question 24

Are hormones involved in the onset and/or maintainenance of maternal behavior in rats? Provide two examples of experimental evidence to support your answer.