Oxytocin and Maternal Brain Plasticity

Abstract

Although dramatic postnatal changes in maternal behavior have long been noted, we are only now beginning to understand the neurobiological mechanisms that support this transition. The present paper synthesizes growing insights from both animal and human research to provide an overview of the plasticity of the mother’s brain, with a particular emphasis on the oxytocin system. We examine plasticity observed within the oxytocin system and discuss how these changes mediate an array of other adaptations observed within the maternal brain. We outline factors that affect the oxytocin-mediated plasticity of the maternal brain and review evidence linking disruptions in oxytocin functions to challenges in maternal adaptation. We conclude by suggesting a strategy for intervention with mothers who may be at risk for maladjustment during this transition to motherhood, while highlighting areas where further research is needed.

Early adverse experience and substance addiction: dopamine, oxytocin, and glucocorticoid pathways

“…While documented consequences are wide ranging, impaired maternal care is particularly pertinent to the topic at hand, given the pivotal role that maternal care plays in shaping the early experience of the next generation. The transition to motherhood is supported by multiple neuroadaptations at molecular, cellular, and neuroendocrine levels, notably in the same three systems examined above—the DA, OT, and GC systems . As reviewed here, substance‐using mothers may display increased vulnerability to dysregulated functions in each of these systems as compared to non‐using mothers, potentially due to their own early histories or substance use, or both.…”

Mothers with substance addictions show reduced reward responses when viewing their own infant's face

“…Virgin females show activation of the mesocorticolimbic DA pathway upon cocaine administration, while the same pathway is deactivated to cocaine and activated to pup cues in postpartum lactating mothers [Ferris et al, ]. This difference preparturition and postparturition reflects a series of neuroadaptations primarily involving, but not limited to, the OT system [Kim and Strathearn, ], which occur during the transition to motherhood and ensure the reward salience of pup cues over other hedonic stimuli [Ferris et al, ; Numan and Woodside, ; Rilling and Young, ]. It is in this respect that our findings in mothers with addictions are particularly noteworthy.…”

Parenting and management skills: The mediator role of empathy

“…Mother's empathy has been found to be crucial when creating a bond with her child and responding to the baby's needs. Motherhood experience was revealed to be associated to the activation of empathy and mentalizing brain networks (Swain, Kim, Spicer et al, ), largely due to the increase in the production of oxytocin (e.g., Kim & Strathearn, ). On the other hand, less studied issue is the role of fathers' empathy in their relationship during the transition to parenthood (Bradford & Hawkins, ), even though there is growing evidence for more similarities than differences between mothers and fathers' brains during this transition (for a review, Nunes‐Costa, Figueiredo & Moya‐Albiol, ).…”