Hypothalamic knife cuts dissociate maternal behaviors, sexual receptivity, and estrous cyclicity in female hamsters

Female hamsters were tested for their response to pups as virgins, then received sagittal cuts either lateral to the medial preoptic area-medial anterior hypothalamus (anterior cuts) or lateral to the medial anterior hypothalamus-ventromedial nucleus (posterior cuts). Postoperatively females were tested: (a) as virgins, for changes in pup retrieval and cannibalism, (b) for mating behavior, (c) for maternal care and cannibalism of their own pups, and (d) for object hoarding. Anterior cuts converted retrieving virgins to cannibalistic ones and reduced nest builing. All females with anterior cuts cannibalized their litters within a few days of parturition. Half of these females did retrieve pups in home cage tests during the first 3 days postpartum. However, unlike controls, when tested in a neutral arena 5–6 weeks later, no pup retrieval was seen, although most would hoard objects. In contrast, posterior cuts reduced pup retrieval and cannibalism in virgins, and disrupted object hoarding. These cuts did not reduce postpartum pup retrieval, but did reduce postpartum cannibalism. Anterior cuts did not reduce sexual receptivity; posterior cuts reduced sexual receptivity without eliminating ovulation. Anterior cuts are interpreted as having a somewhat selective effect of reducing maternal responsiveness by cutting the lateral connections of neurons in the medial anterior hypothalamus and adjacent medial preoptic area, while posterior cuts disrupt sexual receptivity by cutting lateral connections of the ventromedial hypothalamus which travel in the region of the supraoptic commissures