Researchers found that virgin female rats that took care of foster pups grew new brain cells that are believed to be associated with nurturing. Pregnant or lactating rats normally experience such cellular changes, but this study suggests that simply acting motherly can make your brain motherly. In other words, our willingness to mother—rather than an innate ability—may be what matters most. And even the rats that were slow to warm up to the pups developed mom brains eventually.
Brain analyses showed that these maternal rats developed new neurons, which migrate to the olfactory region and are thought to be involved in the odor recognition of offspring. The brains of rats that were isolated from pups as a control group, as well as the rats that were exposed to the pups but ignored them, did not change.
However, the maternal rats did not begin to act motherly at the same rate. Some responded within five days, and others took as long as 11 days to show the pups some love. Previous studies have shown that most of the rats would have eventually acted maternal if the pups were left with them long enough, says neurobiologist and study co-author Robert Bridges—their maternal behaviors developed along a spectrum. At least in the rat world, there was no “normal” way to come around to the idea of parenting.
The study is a reminder that the development of motherly feelings and the concomitant desire to have children can vary widely, too. Some women might be so in touch with their baby longings that they carry around the list of baby names they compiled in college or are willing to be single moms, says Samantha Meltzer-Brody, a perinatal psychiatrist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. However, others—she offers the stock example of a freedom-loving 35-year-old urban careerist—might theoretically want children but are detached from their desires, especially if they don’t have partners or aren’t emotionally or financially ready.
They shouldn’t worry, she says, explaining that the notion that all women who are meant to be mothers experience a sudden, overwhelming urge to reproduce is a myth. A woman often discovers her yearnings when she falls in love with someone with whom she wants to share the parenting experience. Or some women might never feel maternal, explains Meltzer-Brody. The same goes for rats: Previous research shows that one or two rats in any given group never showed interest in the pups.
For women who are bent on procreating but need a neuronal nudge, the rat study (if it proves to be an accurate model for humans) implies that hanging out with your niece or nephew might help provide it. Scientists have long observed that exposing many species of animals to youngsters generates nurturing impulses.
Think of it as an internship in mothering. Among some primates, young females are often eager to babysit infants in order to learn how to take care of them, explains Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of California-Davis, who has studied the practice among the langur monkeys in India. This readiness to bond with nonbiological offspring explains why human adoption works so well.
Photo by Getty Creative Images.
The bottom line: Tending to other people’s babies probably won’t make you want children if you otherwise don’t. But it might make you want to hold them and cuddle them more. And going through the motions of mothering might be one way to start feeling a maternal instinct for real. ( doublex.com )
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