A hormone is the one that allows the learning of maternal behavior, according to a study

The best way to become a good mother might be to learn from an experienced mother. That’s the conclusion of new research on female mice, according to a new study by a team of scientists from the New York University Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine.

Experts have filmed thousands of hours of interaction between female mice and discovered that mother mice are exceptional guardians.

“We discovered a novel behavior in which new mother mice, without being asked, brought virgin female mice into the family nest with young inside. These mothers also tried to show the virgins how to care for the cubs, ”revealed lead author of the already peer-reviewed study, Ioana Carcea, assistant professor in the department of pharmacology, physiology and neurosciences of the New Jersey Rutgers School of Medicine, who led the study published in the journal Nature.

“Basically what mothers do is train virgins to be good puppy sitters. Virgins may not be interested in cubs at first, but after observing experienced mothers, they begin to behave on purpose as fathers would. The same could happen with human mothers. This provides scientific evidence for the benefits seen in parenting classes in humans or, interestingly, in multigenerational households. These observations lead to the production of oxytocin in the brains of virgin females, which biochemically shapes their maternal behaviors even before they have their own young.

In the study, researchers from Rutgers and the New York University Grossman School of Medicine they filmed thousands of hours of female mice interacting with their newborns, as well as virgin mice. They analyzed simultaneous electrical recordings in a region of the brain known to produce oxytocin, a hormone that plays a role in female reproduction and parenting behavior in mice and humans. Oxytocin can shape maternal behaviors even before mice have their own young.

The researchers observed a mother mouse rounding up her young in the family nest and training other females without young to perform the same parenting task. This even happened when the mice saw the interaction through a clear plastic window.

The research team built on their previous studies of the so-called pleasure hormone showing that the release of oxytocin is essential not only for the initiation of breastfeeding, but also for the initiation of other maternal behaviors.

They also measured the electrical activity of the brain in virgin mice during grazing and later when they became mothers on their own. They found that the sight and sound of crying puppies emerging from their nests stimulated the production of oxytocin in a specific region of the brain., the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. When scientists blocked the same oxytocin production pathways, virgin mice didn’t learn how to take care of puppies.

“Our study shows that in mice, the best way to be a mother is to observe and learn from an experienced person,” concludes study principal investigator Robert C. Froemke, member of the Skirball Institute. for Biomolecular Medicine at NYU Langone Health. Based on the evidence, we propose that similar mechanisms work in human mothers ”. The next step for this working group is to examine whether the same mentoring relationship exists between daddy mice and virgin males.

“Back to history – explains the psychologist Eliana Lipquin, co-creator of parent groupsIn ancestral tribes, women shared the birth and education of children among themselves. In these tribes, the same code was created regarding breeding. With the birth of modern societies, it has undergone a profound transformation. The different social, economic and political contexts have influenced the new life of families. These new conformations made the education of the tribe disappear along the way and individualized the education process. The proposed return to tribe or peer group not only allows them to establish networks of containment and support, but also helps to counter depression and loneliness. that several times it is present in the puerperium, or that the anxieties and fears experienced during the pregnancy dissipate, or that the doubts which have occurred can be revealed ”.

“This article redefines the role of oxytocin in brain function, expanding its impact to include formidable and complex social media activities that force the brain to pay attention and adapt to its current environment – that is, by reacting to the sound of cries… puppy or feelings of happiness, ”concludes Froemke.

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