Neuroendocrine and Neurochemical Mechanisms of Parental and Reproductive Behavior Across Species

Parental and reproductive behaviors are expressed across diverse taxa, yet their hormonal regulation reflects both evolutionary conservation and species-specific adaptation. Comparative research demonstrates that neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, and steroid hormones modulate mating, bonding, nesting, incubation, lactation, and offspring defense in all vertebrates. Advances in molecular genetics, neuroimaging, and circuit-level manipulations have revealed conserved hypothalamic and limbic pathways that integrate hormonal and neurochemical signals with environmental and social cues. Interestingly, the behavioral expression of these neural systems varies dramatically across mating systems, life histories, and ecological niches. Ethologically grounded approaches, integrating natural behavioral observation with endocrine and neural measures, have been essential for revealing how hormonal mechanisms operate within real social and environmental contexts. A comparative, behavior-focused synthesis is needed to bridge laboratory and field-based neuroendocrinology and neurochemistry with ecological and evolutionary perspectives in animal behavior.This Research Topic aims to advance an ethocomparative and understanding of hormonal and neurochemical regulation of parental and reproductive behavior. Emerging evidence also suggests that hormonal effects are mediated by dynamic neural circuit modulation, neurochemical signaling, and epigenetic processes rather than static endocrine states. While neuroendocrine and neurochemical mechanisms have been extensively studied in select laboratory models, much less integration exists across species, whether examined under controlled laboratory conditions or in natural, undisturbed field settings, differing in mating systems, parental strategies, and ecological constraints. Moreover, mechanistic findings are often disconnected from detailed integrated behavioral analyses conducted in naturalistic or semi-natural contexts.The objective of this special edition is to bring together comparative contributions that address paternal care, biparental systems, cooperative breeding, and/or life-history variation, spanning both laboratory experiments and field studies, which examine behavioral similarities and divergences in neuroendocrine and/or neurochemical regulation among vertebrates. By emphasizing behavioral outcomes and cross-species comparisons, this collection aims to refine evolutionary models of social reproduction and clarify how neuroendocrine and neurochemical systems are shaped by ecological and social selection pressures.We are inviting submissions with a strong behavioral and comparative focus addressing hormonal and neurochemical regulation of reproductive and parental behaviors across species. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:• Comparative analyses across all vertebrate taxa• Neuroendocrine and neurochemical mechanisms, including oxytocin, vasopressin, prolactin, monoamines, and steroid hormones• Neural circuitry underlying maternal, paternal, and biparental care• Hormonal and neurochemical correlates of maternal, paternal, biparental, or alloparental care• Hormonal regulation of mating systems and sexual selection• Stress-axis interactions with reproductive behavior• Epigenetic and developmental programming of caregiving• Comparative and evolutionary neuroendocrinology and neurochemistry• Gene–environment interactions influencing parental phenotypes• Translational and clinical perspectives on human parenting biologyWe welcome Original Research Articles, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, Systematic Reviews, Methods papers, Comparative Studies, Field Studies, Laboratory Studies, and Perspective/Theory articles. Interdisciplinary and comparative contributions are particularly encouraged, as are studies integrating behavioral, endocrine, neurochemical, neural, and genetic methodologies.If you are interested in submitting or have any questions please contact the journal email: ethology@frontiersin.org Topic editors: Dario Aspesi, Gary R Ten Eyck Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81601/neuroendocrine-and-neurochemical-mechanisms-of-parental-and-reproductive-behavior-across-species