First child's mother smiles brain word

Each mother, never had a sense that the return of joy in the first child smile knows that can be poisonous.

Now scientists Baylor College of Medicine say that there is more to the baby mouth that only the peak of happy feelings. It is to make his son actually smile intensifying pleasure receptors in the brain, usually associated with food, sex - and drug abuse.

"Maybe that their own child's face, as" a natural high, "said Lane Strathearn, associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor and Texas Children's Hospital and the study of reactions in the brain of 28 for the first time mothers.

We know that similar schemes of the brain are activated, "he added." Whether they felt the same as the shot of cocaine, I'm not sure. "

Strathearn and his team used functional magnetic resonance tomography scanning for mothers brain reactions to photographs of her 5 months to 10 months for infants and other people in three states Mind: happy, sad and neutral.

Not surprisingly, given their own children happy mothers sent blood hasty "brain regions associated with dopamine, neurotransmitter, plays an important role in the prevention of drug abuse. Spaykov neural reward for the mothers of them shot prompted you to take action to care for their children, said, Strathearn. This makes sense biologically, "said Strathearn, whose work appears in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics." Conclusions that the connection between parents and children. " The work is important, said Strathearn, not only because it documented the brain activity of healthy mothers, but also because it could serve as a basis for studying the brain, as offensive or passion mother and lead to possible intervention.

"We want to understand what is happening in these relationships with mothers and babies," he added Strathearn, a scientist at Baylor Rights neyrovizualizatsii laboratory.

Do not cry baby Rack

Surprisingly, however, the image of mothers in the study did not answer, mainly because of their own children, when their views were neutral - or, if they were in danger. Scanning revealed reacted neural mothers cry for all children, by strengthening areas of the brain involved in the conflict.

"We expected the reaction from various sad person," said Strathearn. It was not clear, this could mean that mothers in response to all babies cry, not just their own.

A new study provides important insights on the mother replies to infants emotional signals, said Regina Sullivan, a researcher from the institute Joe Ledoux emotional brain that are associated with the National Council S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research and New York University.

But it was not clear until a major study of brain mystery: Is the reaction of the brain documented result of instinct or socialization?

"We do not know whether this response congenital or acquired," said Sullivan. "People tend to think that we are good parents are innate, but it so happens that child-rearing in humans and in nonhuman primates must be learned.

" You do not need to "crack"

Whether they responded instinct or expectations, the results of the survey was not surprising that "Katrina Lyon, 39, high school science teacher-Houston, joined the project three years ago, shortly before the birth of his first son.

Lyons said it is also difficult to describe the joy I felt that the first Aiden smiles or his brother Jack, 1.

"Do you feel as high? Ah, yes," said Lyon, which surrounds himself with pictures of their children. "You have to like crack. I just see them everywhere."

Pediatrics study focused on the reaction of the brain well-educated, middle-class mothers, but will have consequences for others. Mothers depression, for example, usually does not respond to their children smiling.

And other studies have shown that consumption of cocaine, drug that activates dopamine reward may be related to the brain caused by extraordinary babies smile. This can be attributed to high levels of child abuse among mothers addicted to cocaine, Strathearn said.

Other scientists engaged emotions influence of parents in childhood, but this study was limited to biological mothers and infants, Strathern said.

His work was financed by the National Institutes of Health, Kane Family Foundation, the National Institute of neurological disorders and stroke and the National Institute of Drug Abuse. If the investigation can help, Lyons said he was happy to participate.

"I think that is good for all children," he said. "Everyone deserves loving mother."