| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,310,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2007: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Mammalian fetuses already have their ability of memorizing the events in the womb. After birth, newborn pups approach and attach their mother based on the memory in prenatal period. In contrast to the research of attachment to the mother, little is known about the father. It is because that we believed that attachment to the mother was the major mechanism in mammalian species, but this viewpoint should be reexamined. In this study, we aimed to assess the onset of attachment mechanism to the mother with amniotic fluid and mother's milk and that to the father in mice.
In a series of experiments (1 to 5), stimuli of mother and father (fug amniotic fluid and mother's milk) in Slc: ICR mice were separated and combined. When the perioral area of caesarean delivered fetuses was stimulated with fur brush made of mother's ventral fur containing amniotic fluid, their body movements were activated more than mother's milk. In case of fur brush made of father's ventral fug movements of cesarean delivered fetuses and newborn pups were activated more when the brush contained mother's milk than amniotic fluid. In Experiment 6, preference of 2-day-old and 3-day-old pups to mother and/or father was examined. When anesthetized parents were presented to pups, 2-day-old pups approached mother and father, but 3-day-old pups approached mother more than father and sucked.
These results indicates that attachment mechanism to mother is different from father. Behavior of newborn pups is activated first by fur stimulation of perioral area, and then amniotic fluid. Attachment to the mother is established by the association learning of pups between these stimuli and mother's milk, while attachment to the father is established by fur stimulation of perioral area and the presentation of mother's milk. It is clear that association learning after birth plays an important role in the attachment to parents.
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