“That indescribable feeling we get when the blue ray begins to spin.”

© CBC/Radio-Canada 2026. All rights reserved.

I recently joined Bob McDonald on Quirks & Quarks (CBC/Radio-Canada) to chat about my research on male parenting 👨‍👦 The interview is now live in Canada 🇨🇦 and available internationally (🇺🇸, etc.)! You can check it out here (or on other major streaming platforms): www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

I had the opportunity to write a research briefing for Nature, in which I summarized our recent work in African Striped Mice. It’s a short read for anyone who wants a quick overview! www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Agouti integrates environmental cues to regulate paternal behaviour - Nature Expression of agouti signalling protein in neurons in the medial preoptic area is increased by group housing and negatively associated with care, and overexpression of Agouti reduces care and enhances...

Why are some males caring toward infants while others are neglectful or abusive? I'm so pleased to share work that my colleagues and I @princeton.edu have just published @nature.com (an explanatory thread to follow!) (1/8)

I expect a live stream and a recording for posterity.

This is giving Sanger Sequencing 😂 but the blue one is better.

Thank you so much !

A amazing new story by @cate-cholamine.bsky.social led by @forrestdrogers.bsky.social on the environmental modulation of paternal behavior in African striped mice, with a newly discovered molecular player of parental control, Agouti! Terrific study, congrats to all authors!...

Thank you!!!

Me too 😂

Thank you so much! 🥲

Doting male mouse dads share a genetic signature, new study finds New research on African striped mice found that the caregiving instinct may be rooted in a specific gene

New research on African striped mice found that the caregiving instinct may be rooted in a specific gene

The making of doting dads: New study from Princeton's Neuroscience Institute and Department of Molecular Biology identifies the Agouti gene as a regulator of paternal instincts. Photograph: An adult male African striped mouse sits huddled closely with several small pups against a white background.

From "Dad of the Year" to deadbeat: what accounts for a doting father versus a negligent one? PNI's @forrestdrogers.bsky.social working in the labs of @cate-cholamine.bsky.social & @mallarinolab.bsky.social finds a molecular “switch” for paternal care in mice.

pni.princeton.edu/news/2026/ma...

Agouti integrates environmental cues to regulate paternal behaviour - Nature Expression of agouti signalling protein in neurons in the medial preoptic area is increased by group housing and negatively associated with care, and overexpression of Agouti reduces care and enhances...

It has been such a pleasure to work with @cate-cholamine.bsky.social and @mallarinolab.bsky.social on this research! This interdisciplinary collaboration opened up such a fascinating line of inquiry and took us on a wild scientific adventure 🧡 www.nature.com/articles/s41... (8/8)

Surprisingly, food availability was *not* connected to Agouti. However, simply moving males from a group housed environment to social isolation led to a drop in Agouti, abolished infanticide, and increased care. Thus, we've concluded that Agouti must integrate socio-environmental cues. (7/8)

We then over-expressed Agouti in the MPOA of tolerant males and found that they became infanticidal! So what was Agouti doing? Inspired by work on a related peptide, AgRP, and a known connection between Agouti and obesity, we sought to determine if Agouti levels were tied to food availability. (6/8)

We leveraged single nucleus RNA-sequencing in the MPOA of infanticidal, ambivalent, and caring virgin males as well as dams (moms) and sires (fathers). We were *shocked* to find that a particular gene, Agouti, was significantly enriched in infanticidal males! (5/8)

We used a whole brain screen of cFOS following pup exposure to identify brain regions that were more active during episodes of care, ambivalence, or infanticide. Intriguingly, we found that caring males had more activity in the medial preoptic area (MPOA), a known hub of *maternal* care. (4/8)

We found that social isolation *increased* male care toward pups without increasing anxiety-like behaviors. Isolated males were mostly caring, while group housed males demonstrated striking variation, from infanticide, to ambivalence, and some care. (3/8)

Photo of an African striped mouse father with his pups. Photo by C. Todd Reichart, Dept. of Molecular Biology, Princeton University

We leveraged the natural male parental behavior of African striped mice to identify mechanisms underlying natural variation in care. We were able to reiterate findings from fieldwork showing that male striped mice alter their parental behavior in response to changes in environment. (2/8)

Agouti integrates environmental cues to regulate paternal behaviour - Nature Expression of agouti signalling protein in neurons in the medial preoptic area is increased by group housing and negatively associated with care, and overexpression of Agouti reduces care and enhances...

Why are some males caring toward infants while others are neglectful or abusive? I'm so pleased to share work that my colleagues and I @princeton.edu have just published @nature.com (an explanatory thread to follow!) (1/8)

Wow thanks for the post! Other UCD authors include
@forrestdrogers.bsky.social and @adeleseelke.bsky.social , as well as Jessica Bond and Trent Simmons -- team vole!

Assistant Professor of Psychology - Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

UCDavis Psych is hiring an Assistant Professor in Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience 🧠✨

Come join a vibrant, collaborative dept and live in a fun college town near Sacramento, San Francisco, Napa, and Lake Tahoe. Applications due Oct.21.

Please share widely!

recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300

Assistant Professor of Psychology - Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

UC Davis is hiring! A tenure-track assistant professor of psychology, in human cognition or cognitive neuroscience #psychjobs recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300

Research Analyst - Laboratory of Behavioural Neuroendocrinology-camh

Job alert: We're looking for someone to help us produce a female-specific risk calculator for Alzheimer’s disease! 🧠 Key qualifications are experience w/ large databases, project management, and women's health research. See posting for more info: shorturl.at/zkO8V

Wildfires Fueled by Dry Conditions Quickly Spread Across Texas and Oklahoma Emergency crews in both states were scrambling to keep up with all the blazes popping up across the map.

An outbreak of wildfires fueled by dry conditions and hurricane-force winds was rapidly spreading across the Texas Panhandle and parts of Oklahoma on Friday, prompting evacuations, wreaking havoc on the roads and leaving thousands without power.

Western Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.

Delighted to announce that the Western University Postdoctoral Fellowships Program is open for 2025 applications. The 2-year Fellowships now include annual stipends of $70,000 plus benefits, plus a $5,000 research allowance. We expect to make up to 19 awards. Details:

uwo.ca/research/fun...

Forrest teaching Brian how to extract nuclei for RNAsequencing

Today I tried to take a break from the bad news by learning to extract nuclei with UCD grad @forrestdrogers.bsky.social

I also got this today. My only guess is I’m on the email list from when I applied (sans success) for NSF postdoc funding?

Congratulations!!!!!