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Pheromone Signaling pp 331–347Cite as

Assessing Postpartum Maternal Care, Alloparental Behavior, and Infanticide in Mice: With Notes on Chemosensory Influences

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1068))

Abstract

Chemosensory signaling influences maternal care and other innate behaviors toward conspecific young animals in rodents. In this chapter, we describe basic protocols for assessment of postpartum maternal behavior and other pup-directed behaviors in laboratory mice. The specific aim of this protocol is to screen out the abnormal phenotypes in parenting of genetic mutant mice under the standard housing condition. The possible underlying mechanisms for a given abnormality in the mother-young interaction are briefly suggested as well.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Kashiko Tachikawa and Yoshihiro Yoshihara for helpful discussion and comments on this topic. This work was supported by RIKEN, the Uehara Memorial Foundation, and the JSPS Grant-in-Aid programs. We would appreciate if the readers kindly let us know if any corrections or comments on this article at: oyako@brain.riken.jp.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Affiliative Social Behavior, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Saitama, Japan

    Kumi O. Kuroda & Yousuke Tsuneoka

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  1. Kumi O. Kuroda
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  2. Yousuke Tsuneoka
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Applied Biological Chemistry, The University of Tokyo School of Agricultural & Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazushige Touhara

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Kuroda, K.O., Tsuneoka, Y. (2013). Assessing Postpartum Maternal Care, Alloparental Behavior, and Infanticide in Mice: With Notes on Chemosensory Influences. In: Touhara, K. (eds) Pheromone Signaling. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1068. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-619-1_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-619-1_25

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-619-1

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