Maternal behavior that is sensitive to the offspring's needs during everyday interactions is essential for development and well-being in mammals. Despite its importance, few studies have examined how varying physiological and developmental offspring needs affect maternal caregiving decisions. Consequently, almost nothing is known about the neurobiological mechanisms of maternal sensitivity.  Prior work in the Pereira lab has shown that the medial preoptic area (mPOA), a critical brain structure regulating maternal behavior, plays a major role in maternal sensitivity. The objective of this study was to determine whether the mPOA contributes to maternal sensitivity by encoding or representing the specific offspring needs. To address this question, we used the catFISH technique (cellular compartment analysis of temporal activity by fluorescence in situ hybridization), a within-subject approach that leverages the temporal dynamics of the immediate-early gene cFos transcription to determine the degree of neuronal population overlap across successive exposures. We examined whether exposure to offspring with different levels of need engages distinct versus shared mPOA neuronal ensembles. Postpartum females were exposed to pups with either normal needs (NDEM pups) or increased needs (DEM pups). This tested whether maternal behaviors towards offspring with varying need levels activate the same or different populations of mPOA neurons. Preliminary catFISH analysis of nuclear cfos pre-mRNA and cytoplasmic mRNA in the mPOA revealed DEM and NDEM pup exposures activated distinct neuronal populations, suggesting the mPOA contributes to representing offspring needs to support sensitive caregiving. Together, these findings advance our understanding of how the mPOA contributes to maternal sensitivity.​