- Kayla Y. Lim ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7168-58771,2 na1,
- Ye Emily Wu ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8052-10731,2 &
We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.
Humans and animals can sense the negative states of other individuals and respond with prosocial behaviour to improve their conditions1,2. Although prosocial behaviour is hypothesized to have an evolutionary root in caring for vulnerable newborn offspring1,3, whether the neural substrates underlying parenting may contribute to adult-directed prosocial behaviours remains largely unclear. We show that mice with higher levels of parenting exhibit more prosocial allogrooming toward stressed adults. The medial preoptic area (MPOA), a brain area involved in parenting behaviour, bidirectionally regulates allogrooming toward stressed conspecifics. Allogrooming and parenting behaviours recruit a partially overlapping neuronal ensemble in the MPOA, are both controlled by an MPOA–to–VTA pathway and are associated with dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Using activity-dependent labeling, we demonstrate that MPOA neuronal ensembles engaged during parenting behaviours are functionally required for allogrooming. Conversely, MPOA neurons activated during prosocial behaviour are functionally required for pup grooming. Collectively, these findings uncover a neural circuit mechanism of prosocial behaviour and reveal partially shared neural substrates between parenting and prosocial behaviours, suggesting that the neural systems evolved for offspring care may have provided a scaffold for the emergence of broader prosocial support between adults.
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- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USAFangmiao Sun, Kayla Y. Lim, James Dang, Ye Emily Wu & Weizhe Hong
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USAFangmiao Sun, Kayla Y. Lim, James Dang, Ye Emily Wu & Weizhe Hong
- Department of Bioengineering, Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USAWeizhe Hong
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USALi I. Zhang
Fangmiao Sun, Kayla Y. Lim, James Dang, Ye Emily Wu & Weizhe Hong
Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Department of Bioengineering, Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
This file includes Supplementary Table 1 which contains detailed statistical information, and Supplementary Notes 1–7 containing additional notes and discussions.
Example annotated video showing prosocial interaction between a subject animal (a virgin female) and a same-sex stressed adult conspecific. Annotated behaviours of the subject animal are displayed both in real-time within each frame and in the embedded ethogram, including social investigation and allogrooming episodes.
Example annotated video showing the interaction between a subject animal (a virgin female) and pups. Annotated behaviours of the subject animal are displayed both in real-time within each frame and in the embedded ethogram, including pup investigation and pup grooming episodes.
Sun, F., Lim, K.Y., Dang, J. et al. Shared neural substrates of prosocial and parenting behaviours. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10327-8
