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Got milk? Oxytocin triggers hippocampal plasticity

Nature Neuroscience volume 6, pages 327–328 (2003)Cite this article

Giving birth improves spatial memory in rodents. A new study shows that oxytocin, which triggers birth and milk release, activates a signaling cascade involved in learning, and that this hormone is necessary and sufficient for memory improvement in mice that have had litters.

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Figure 1: A mother and her pups.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Program and Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48824, Michigan, USA

    Douglas A. Monks, Joseph S. Lonstein & S. Marc Breedlove

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  1. Douglas A. Monks
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  2. Joseph S. Lonstein
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  3. S. Marc Breedlove
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Correspondence to S. Marc Breedlove.

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Monks, D., Lonstein, J. & Breedlove, S. Got milk? Oxytocin triggers hippocampal plasticity. Nat Neurosci 6, 327–328 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0403-327

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