Maternal Neglect Is Heritable

Strange as it seems, but some moms experience kind of euphoria when they see their baby crying. Other women get negative feelings, and even disgust. A study looking at reasons for maternal neglect found that such opposite behavior patterns have their root in different brain chemical responses which could be explained how mums themselves were treated as children.

The study conducted by scientists from Australian University of Queensland involved 30 first-time mothers. The women had their brain activity scanned as they looked at pictures of their baby in various emotional states. The scientists were also collecting information on the childhood of the mothers and how close was their relation to parents. The leading researcher, Dr Lane Strathearn, said that for mothers with close bond to their parents, the study found that any emotional states of infant, either laugher or crying, produced positive responses in their brain.

For mothers with poor attachment to their parents, the brain response was different. For them, the activity was observed in a brain region associated with pain, disgust and unfairness. The scientists also took blood from women for testing before and after they interacted with their seven-month-old baby. For mothers with stronger bond to their parents, more hormone oxytocin was detected in blood. This hormone is produced in brain and is important for childbirth, breastfeeding and maternal care.

The study was aimed at explaining the special mother-baby bond and why it may be hard to be established and sustained.

Earlier studies conducted by Dr Strathearn found that smiling baby may activate the reward region in a mother’s brain.

The study details were published in Neuropsychopharmacology Magazine.

Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/educ8n4.