According to our own recent work, the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum were more activated in the brain of a mother when she looked at her own infant compared with other infants regardless of the infant’s situation or mood. These brain areas also showed a greater activation when mothers were viewing their infant when he or she was crying (the distressed condition) as opposed to when he or she was happy (the play situation). This discovery makes sense, as a distressed baby might require more effort and thought as the mother must quickly identify the source of the distress and respond appropriately. Another reason to highlight the importance of the orbitofrontal cortex in guiding maternal behavior is that, in our experiment, the activity of this brain area showed a positive correlation not only with pleasurable feelings but also the anxious feelings experienced by the mother. Of course, these anxious feelings are important for maternal care, as anxiety and worry can be powerful motivators. Taken together, these findings suggest that maternal behavior is guided by elaborate and complex neural mechanisms. Although reward processing is clearly an important part of this mental process—it seems to mediate maternal love and feelings of joy—other mechanisms are required in order to explain the full range of the mother-infant relationship.

In conclusion, a smiling face of a mother’s own infant is certainly rewarding and it motivates maternal care, but this is not the only motivator. We hope that in the future other aspects of maternal behavior—such as the maternal desire to protect her infant, which is a biologically essential mechanism for preservation of the species—will get investigated and explored. 

Are you a scientist? Have you recently read a peer-reviewed paper that you want to write about? Then contact Mind Matters editor Jonah Lehrer, the science writer behind the blog The Frontal Cortex and the book Proust Was a Neuroscientist.

6 Comments

1. 1. mareth 09:57 AM 9/23/08

   Human interaction stimulating areas in the brain. Further study: blind people, telepathy?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. mareth 09:59 AM 9/23/08

   Human interaction stimulating areas in the brain. Further study: blind people, telepathy?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. mareth 10:02 AM 9/23/08

   Human interaction stimulating areas in the brain. Further study: blind people, telepathy?
   Why do I have to enter this twice?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

4. 4. ImproperUsername 12:13 PM 9/23/08

   I'm not seeing what is so significant about this study.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

5. 5. ndotgw 05:00 PM 9/23/08

   "Studies also show that abusive and neglectful mothers show less empathy and more aversive feelings towards a crying infant when compared with nurturing mothers, suggesting that how a mother reacts to a baby when its upset and not smiling is a crucial test of maternal behavior." A study had to be done to come to this conclusion?!? (Boldface mine)

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

6. 6. SANKALP20KUMAR 04:27 PM 4/30/10

   well,it's an excellent work by d authors....atleast the world and of course the guys will now know..what makes gurls and mothers happy.....!!!and ofcourse upset..:)

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this