Maternal tendencies in women are associated with estrogen levels and facial femininity

Smith, Miriam J.; Deady, Denis K.; Moore, Fhionna R.; Jones, Benedict C.; Cornwell, R. Elisabeth; Stirrat, Michael; Lawson, Jamie; Feinberg, David R.; Perrett, David I.

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.09.005

Cited by 68 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Estrogen and oxytocin modulate maternal licking and grooming behavior, pup gathering, and nest building in rodents (48). Late-follicular estrogen levels correlate with the reported ideal number of children, a measure of maternal tendency, in nulliparous women (167).…”

Section: Behaviors Examples Too Numerous To Comprehensively Cite Incmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive Steroid Regulation of Mood and Behavior

Schiller

Johnson

Abate

et al. 2016

Comprehensive Physiology

158

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In this article, we examine evidence supporting the role of reproductive steroids in the regulation of mood and behavior in women and the nature of that role. In the first half of the article, we review evidence for the following: (i) the reproductive system is designed to regulate behavior; (ii) from the subcellular to cellular to circuit to behavior, reproductive steroids are powerful neuroregulators; (iii) affective disorders are disorders of behavioral state; and (iv) reproductive steroids affect virtually every system implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. In the second half of the article, we discuss the diagnosis of the three reproductive endocrine-related mood disorders (premenstrual dysphoric disorder, postpartum depression, and perimenopausal depression) and present evidence supporting the relevance of reproductive steroids to these conditions. Existing evidence suggests that changes in reproductive steroid levels during specific reproductive states (i.e., the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, parturition, and the menopause transition) trigger affective dysregulation in susceptible women, thus suggesting the etiopathogenic relevance of these hormonal changes in reproductive mood disorders. Understanding the source of individual susceptibility is critical to both preventing the onset of illness and developing novel, individualized treatments for reproductive-related affective dysregulation. © 2016 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 6:1135-1160, 2016e.

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Section: Behaviors Examples Too Numerous To Comprehensively Cite Incmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive Steroid Regulation of Mood and Behavior

Schiller

Johnson

Abate

et al. 2016

Comprehensive Physiology

158

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Oxytocin, prolactin, and vasopressin have long been known to influence parental responsiveness (Delahunty, McKay, Noseworthy, & Storey, 2007;Feldman, Gordon, Schneiderman, Weisman, & Zagoory-Sharon, 2010;A S Fleming, Ruble, Krieger, & Wong, 1997;Gordon, Zagoory-Sharon, Leckman, & Feldman, 2010;Storey, Walsh, Quinton, & Wynne-Edwards, 2000). Similarly, estrogen has been shown to be linked to maternal drive in female primates, including humans (Law Smith et al, 2012;Ramirez, Bardi, French, & Brent, 2004). Recent work has also suggested men and women with children have lower testosterone than those without (Gettler, McDade, Feranil, & Kuzawa, 2011;Kuzawa, Gettler, Huang, & McDade, 2010), and an inverse relationship between testosterone and paternal caregiving behaviors among fathers (Fleming, Corter, Stallings, & Steiner, 2002;Gettler et al, 2011;Mascaro et al, 2013 Overall, there is converging evidence for heightened processing of the baby schema within components of the dopaminergic motivational system, as well as some aspects of Haxby's core face processing system.…”

Section: Sexual Dimorphisms In Responses To Infant Cutenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural and behavioral responses to attractiveness in adult and infant faces

Hahn

Perrett

2014

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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139

106

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Facial attractiveness provides a very powerful motivation for sexual and parental behavior. We therefore review the importance of faces to the study of neurobiological control of human reproductive motivations. For heterosexual individuals there is a common brain circuit involving the nucleus accumbens, the medial prefrontal, dorsal anterior cingulate and the orbitofrontal cortices that is activated more by attractive than unattractive faces, particularly for faces of the opposite sex. Behavioral studies indicate parallel effects of attractiveness on incentive salience or willingness to work to see faces. Both work/effort and brain activation to the sight of opposite sex attractiveness is more pronounced in men than women, perhaps reflecting the greater importance assigned to physical attractiveness by men when evaluating a potential mate. Studies comparing heterosexual and homosexual observers indicate the orbitofrontal cortex and mediodorsal thalamus are more activated by faces of the desired sex than faces of the less preferred sex, independent of observer gender or sexual orientation. Infant faces activate brain regions that partially overlap with those responsive to adult faces. Infant faces provide a powerful stimulus, which also elicits sex differences in behavior and brain responses that appear dependent on sex hormones. There are many facial dimensions affecting perceptions of attractiveness that remain unexplored in neuroimaging, and we conclude by suggesting that future studies combining parametric manipulation of face images, brain imaging, hormone assays and genetic polymorphisms in receptor sensitivity are needed to understand the neural and hormonal mechanisms underlying reproductive drives.3

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“…Hence, we might expect greater preferences for femininity in countries with better health conditions. Secondly, female facial femininity is associated with greater perceived maternal tendencies and actual maternal investment and parental qualities [15,16]. Thus, preferences for facial femininity might reflect a prioritization of cues indicative of maternal investment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, if facial femininity signals reproductive value and heritable benefits that might enhance offspring survival [16], we could expect stronger preferences for femininity in countries with worse healthcare. This hypothesis is in line with recent findings [17][18][19] that in cultures with lower versus higher standards of healthcare, women prefer more masculine men.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-cultural variation in men's preference for sexual dimorphism in women's faces

et al. 2014

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Both attractiveness judgements and mate preferences vary considerably cross-culturally. We investigated whether men's preference for femininity in women's faces varies between 28 countries with diverse health conditions by analysing responses of 1972 heterosexual participants. Although men in all countries preferred feminized over masculinized female faces, we found substantial differences between countries in the magnitude of men's preferences. Using an average femininity preference for each country, we found men's facial femininity preferences correlated positively with the health of the nation, which explained 50.4% of the variation among countries. The weakest preferences for femininity were found in Nepal and strongest in Japan. As high femininity in women is associated with lower success in competition for resources and lower dominance, it is possible that in harsher environments, men prefer cues to resource holding potential over high fecundity.

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Maternal tendencies in women are associated with estrogen levels and facial femininity

Cited by 68 publications

References 40 publications

Reproductive Steroid Regulation of Mood and Behavior

Reproductive Steroid Regulation of Mood and Behavior

Neural and behavioral responses to attractiveness in adult and infant faces

Cross-cultural variation in men's preference for sexual dimorphism in women's faces

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