When Mothers Go Wrong
Kinsley, C.H. et al (2011)
When Mothers go Wrong: Likely Neural Undercurrents Related to Poor Parenting
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2, article 26
When Mothers go Wrong: Likely Neural Undercurrents Related to Poor Parenting (full summary)
- Changes occur in the chemistry and structure of some parts of the brains of women and female mammals when they become mothers.
- Differences in these brain regions between “good” (nurturing) and “poor” mothers can be observed in both humans and animals.
- Both animal experiments and observations of humans suggest that females who are not mothered well are themselves likely to become poor mothers.
- These observations suggest that brain changes associated with “learning” the role of a mother are not automatic and that they can be interfered with, which may disadvantage the offspring in the next generation.