Happy babies tend to make people smile, but a recent study by UW-Madison researchers showed that for new mothers, pictures of their babies not only make them happier, but also trigger a part of their brain that may be involved in the bonding between a mother and her new child.
The study, published in the most recent issue of NeuroImage, examined the relationship between babies and positive emotion by presenting pictures of happy infants to new mothers and watching their brain activity. The researchers found mothers seeing pictures of their own baby showed a significant increase of activity in one of the eward centers"" of their brain, the orbitofrontal cortex, as compared with the activity when seeing other images or no image at all.
""Because positive emotion is an aspect of maternal attachment, this brain region is probably important for a mother's bond with her infant,"" said Jack Nitschke, lead author of the paper and assistant professor of psychiatry.
The researchers took brain scans of six first-time mothers while they looked at images of happy babies and rated their moods.
When the mothers saw pictures of their own infants, activity increased in the orbitofrontal cortex, a region in the lower part of the front of the brain that is involved in determining emotional value of things. This confirms, Nitschke said, that this region is involved in positive emotion and the evaluation of rewards.
Richard Davidson, senior scientist on the project and professor of psychology and psychiatry, said the key discovery was the mothers' reports of how loving, affectionate and warm they felt toward their own babies.
""This find is important,"" Davidson said, ""because it hones in on a part of the brain that responds differently between people to specific cues in their environment. It may also be important in understanding depression.""
Nitschke said one of the mothers involved in the study suffered from postpartum depression, which may be the next area this research will go.
""This paradigm will potentially show that there are differences in activity in that part of the brain,"" Nitschke said.
But even for those who are not new mothers, Nitschke said, ""This study suggests that if you take some time to notice the little things in life, it'll put you in a better mood overall.\
