Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have seen areas of a mother's brain light up when she looks at pictures of her own baby smiling. This response is thought to be key to the mother–baby bond, which matters greatly for the child's healthy development.
The researchers used functional MRI, which measures blood flow in the brain, while mothers were shown pictures of their own babies with different expressions, as well as pictures of other babies. The strength of the response depended on the baby's expression and on whether the baby was the mother's own: it was strongest when her own baby was smiling.
The brain areas activated are linked with the messenger chemical dopamine and lie in the front of the brain, which deals with emotion, thinking and movement. They are the same areas affected by addictive drugs, so the researchers described the mother's response as a "natural high".
"Neglect and abuse can have devastating effects on a child's development," says Dr Lane Strathearn. "Understanding how a mother responds to her baby's smile or cry is the first step to understanding the brain basis of the mother–child relationship." The study was published in Pediatrics in July 2008.
Like
Love
Angry
Dislike
