UNDERSTANDING PARALLELS OF HUMAN AND ANIMAL PARENTING CAN BENEFIT GENERATIONS TO COME
Strong evidence now
shows that human and animal parenting share many nervous system mechanisms.
This is the conclusion of Yerkes National Primate Research Center researchers
Larry Young, PhD, and James Rilling, PhD, in their review article about the
biology of mammalian parenting, published in this week's issue of Science. Better
understanding this biology could lead to improved social development,
benefitting generations of humans and animals to come.
In their article,
Young and Rilling review the biological mechanisms governing a shift in
mammals' parental motivation that begins with aversion and transforms into
irresistible attraction after giving birth. They say the same molecules that
prepare the uterus for pregnancy, stimulate milk production and initiate labor
also activate specific neural pathways to motivate parents to nurture, bond
with and protect their offspring.
According to Young,
"We have learned a tremendous amount about the specific hormonal and brain
mechanisms regulating parental behavior and how parental nurturing influences
the development of the offspring brain by using animal models, and many of
these same mechanisms influence human parenting behavior as well."
Young is division chief
of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychiatric Disorders at the Yerkes Research
Center, director of the Center for Translational Social Neuroscience at Emory,
a William P. Timmie professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Emory's School
of Medicine and author of The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex and the Science
of Attraction, which also summarizes the parallels between brain mechanisms
regulating sexual and parenting behaviors in animals and humans.
Rilling, who is a
Yerkes researcher and an associate professor in Emory's Department of
Anthropology, adds, "The human brain has mechanisms in place to support
parent-child bonding, and when functioning properly, these mechanisms
facilitate the development of secure attachment and sound mental health that is
transmitted across generations."
The researchers
divided their review into nine categories, including neural correlates of human
parental care, two specific to parenting and oxytocin, two focused specifically
on paternal caregiving by fathers and two related to the effect of parenting on
social development. Examples within these categories include that the
frustration inconsolable infant crying induces is a risk factor for infant
abuse, highlighting the importance of emotion regulation for sensitive parenting;
that oxytocin affects maternal motivation and paternal behaviors essential for
nurturing, bonding and defending the offspring; that testosterone may interfere
with parenting effort; and that variation in parental nurturing can affect
brain development, thus affecting future social behaviors.
"With this
comprehensive review, we can see nervous system correlations across species
that result in positive and negative parental care," says Young.
"This information is critical to further studying social development in
order to facilitate positive parental behaviors that will benefit generations
to come," he continues.
Established in 1930,
the Yerkes National Primate Research Center paved the way for what has become
the National Institutes of Health-funded National Primate Research Center
(NPRC) program. For more than eight decades, the Yerkes Research Center has
been dedicated to conducting essential basic science and translational research
to advance scientific understanding and to improve human health and well-being.
Today, the Yerkes Research Center is one of only eight NPRCs. The center
provides leadership, training and resources to foster scientific creativity,
collaboration and discoveries, and research at the center is grounded in
scientific integrity, expert knowledge, respect for colleagues, an open
exchange of ideas and compassionate, quality animal care.
Within the fields of
microbiology and immunology, neurologic diseases, neuropharmacology,
behavioral, cognitive and developmental neuroscience, and psychiatric
disorders, the center's research programs are seeking ways to: develop vaccines
for infectious and noninfectious diseases; understand the basic neurobiology
and genetics of social behavior and develop new treatment strategies for
improving social functioning in social disorders such as autism; interpret
brain activity through imaging; increase understanding of progressive illnesses
such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases; unlock the secrets of memory;
treat drug addiction; determine how the interaction between genetics and
society shape who we are; and advance knowledge about the evolutionary links
between biology and behavior.
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