Ito, K.; Sato, K.; Tsuneoka, Y.; Maejima, T.; Okuno, H.; Hamasaki, Y.; Murakawa, S.; Yoshihara, C.; Shindo, S.; Uki, H.; Herlitze, S.; Seki, M.; Suzuki, Y.; Sakurai, T.; Kuroda, K. O.; Minami, M.; AMANO, T.

A dramatic shift from aggressive infanticidal to paternal social behaviors is an essential event for males after mating. While the central part of the medial preoptic area (cMPOA) has been shown to critically mediate the paternal behaviors in mice, how this brain region becomes activated by mating and subsequent interaction with pups has not been investigated. Here, we demonstrate that the reduction in inhibitory synaptic strength towards the cMPOA provided by posteriordorsal medial amygdala (MePD) neurons is a key event for the post-mating behavioral shift in males. Consistent with this, we found optogenetic disinhibition of MeCartpt to the cMPOA synapses reduces male aggression towards pups. We further provide evidence that the cMPOA of paternal mice mediated pup-induced neural plastic changes in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. These findings provide possible function of cMPOA neural circuits required for the reception to young in male mice.