# Neural circuitry for observational learning of maternal behavior

> **NIH NIH F32** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $70,310

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Behaviors essential for survival, including parenting behaviors, are driven by neural circuits that arise from
combinations of genetics and experience-dependent learning. To what extent is parental behavior learned, vs.
predetermined by innate specializations of neural circuits? Virgin female mice can learn some maternal
behaviors when housed with an experienced mother and her pups, in particular retrieving isolated pups to the
nest. Preliminary data indicates that virgins can learn this behavior via auditory and visual observation. In both
mothers and pup-experienced virgins, retrieval behavior is correlated with plasticity in sensory areas of the brain,
including heightened sensitivity for pup vocalizations in auditory cortex. This robustly-learned, socially-
transmitted behavior is an ideal model for measuring synaptic plasticity correlated with learning in a naturalistic
context. In this proposal I will use a head-fixed virtual reality paradigm combined with whole-cell
electrophysiology and functional imaging to measure plasticity induced by observation in real time. I will
deconstruct what specific combinations of visual and auditory cues refine auditory cortex tuning for pup
vocalizations, enabling mice to categorize these sounds as behaviorally salient. I will use functional imaging and
optogenetic manipulations to measure the dynamics of neuromodulatory activity required for induction and
maintenance of this plasticity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9991218
- **Project number:** 1F32MH123016-01
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Amy LeMessurier
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $70,310
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9991218

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9991218, Neural circuitry for observational learning of maternal behavior (1F32MH123016-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9991218. Licensed CC0.

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