Some of the regions highlighted in the new experiment have shown up before in experiments by Gammie and other researchers. For example, the paraventricular nucleus has been linked to aggression in related research into the behavior of prairie voles. Voles are also rodents and look like a stout mouse or rat, but are more closely related to lemmings and muskrats than to mice. The paraventricular nucleus is located in the hypothalamus, a brain area where environmental stimuli are integrated with internal signals from the brain, and a response to the stimuli begins to be produced. With a list of likely suspects based on the research of Gammie and others, neuroscientists can begin to consider more precise pharmacological manipulation of the brain to zero in on the brain circuitry that produces aggression.
Maternal aggression occurs in almost all mammals.
If we gain a detailed understanding of the neural circuitry underlying maternal aggression in rodents, then it may be possible later on to use that information to help understand how maternal aggression is controlled in humans.