To test the possibility that the newborn pups trigger the induction of FosB in the brain of the mother, the affect of pup presentation was examined. Sections of the brain were stained with Anti-FosB antibodies before, two, and six hours after the pups were presented to the mutant mothers. From previous studies, showing that POA is critical for nurturing behavior, and that the disruption of the FosB leads to a nuturing defect, the studies suggest that the FosB may act with the POA neuron in the illustration of nuturing behavior. The analysis of the tests also showed positive results of FosB within several other brain regions including the main and accessory olfactory bulbs and pyriform cortex. Upon presentation of the pups, there was no further indication of FosB in the accessory or main olfactory bulbs.
Previous experiments show that olfactory information is critical for nurturing.
Therefore, FosB may also affect the integrating of many olfactory inputs that regulate the nuturing response. There were also slight detections of FosB within other regions of the brain, suggesting that FosB may also be affected by subtle environmental changes. The expression of FosB within so many regions of the brain suggests that it may also have other functions in the central nervous system. These results illustrated a great deal about the nature of FosB and its importance in the nurturing behavior of the mother mice.