Seeing one’s own baby smile affects the same parts of the brain that are activated by drug addictions, according to the findings of a study conducted at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM).  Other expressions on a baby’s smile provoke responses in the same areas of the brain, although not to the same degree that a smile does.

Dr. Lane Strathearn, an assistant pediatrics professor at BCM’s Human Neuroimaging Laboratory, suggests these findings may become helpful when the mother-child relationship doesn’t develop normally.  This very important relationship is crucial to the healthy development of the child and poor relationships between mother and child often lead to neglect and abuse, which can have devastating effects to the child over the course of his or her entire lifetime.  Strathearn is also affiliated with Texas Children’s Hospital.

Strathearn’s research team enlisted 28 new mothers when their children were between 5 months and 10 months of age.  The study involved neuroimaging using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans conducted as the mothers viewed photographs of many babies, including their own.  In the photos, the babies were smiling happily, exhibiting neutral expressions, or appeared sad or were crying.

The scans revealed that brain activity intensified the most, or produced the biggest “high,” when a mother saw a photo of her own child smiling and happy.  Less brain activity was associated with neutral expressions and seeing her own baby crying produced a response similar to watching photos of an unknown baby.  Responses were strongest when mothers viewed photos of their own child, regardless of the child’s facial expression.

The research team suggests understanding this response in mothers’ brains could be a first step toward identifying and understanding the mother-child attachment from a neural perspective.

The medical journal, Pediatrics, carries the full story of this study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the General Clinical Research Center, as well as with grants awarded by the Kane Family Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Source: Baylor College of Medicine