Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Published online: 07 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41583-026-01073-x Parental care is a conserved and robust feature of mammalian reproductive behaviour, but is highly variable, even within individuals. Jamieson and Kohl describe the neural circuits that drive parental caregiving in rodents, as well as their modulation by context, internal state, social experience, life stage and competing motivational demands.