Maternal Behavior: Neural Circuits, Stimulus Valence, and Motivational Processes

SYNOPSIS

This article summarizes research on the brain circuits underlying maternal responsiveness. The research shows how a female mammal's physiological state primes and activates neural and neurochemical mechanisms that promote maternal responsiveness. A dysregulation of such mechanisms would lead to inadequate maternal behavior. Neural models are described to show how hormones and oxytocin might cause a functional rewiring of neural circuits so that infant stimuli that initially provoke antisocial defensive responses can come to evoke prosocial acceptance responses. Similarly, genetic, experiential, and cognitive factors might also influence maternal behavior by affecting the operation of the critical neural circuits.