Mum matters most in the eyes of their children

The special lifelong bond that children have with their mothers may have its roots in how our brains react when we see our mothers' faces, according to scientists.

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent
Published: 7:30AM BST 29 Aug 2010

Mothers are said to hold a special lifelong place in their children's hearts, but it also appears they have a unique significance in their brains too.

Scientists have discovered that when adults look at their mothers' faces, it triggers a stronger response in the brain than when they look at pictures of strangers - or even of their fathers.

Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, the researchers measured the brain activity
of volunteers as they were shown photographs of their parents, strangers and celebrities. Photo: Alamy

Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, the researchers measured the brain activity of volunteers as they were shown photographs of their parents, strangers and celebrities.

When images of the participants' mothers were shown to them, the scientists found that it "lit up" key areas, associated with recognition and emotion.

The findings suggest that mothers produce a complex and lasting emotional and cognitive response in their children's brain, as a result of the bonding experience that takes place between them and their children, as babies.

Scientists believe the findings shed new light on the extent to which humans experience "imprinting" - a phenomenon observed in many birds and animals in which youngsters form very strong attachments to the first creature they see after being born.

As a result, the youngsters follow their mother around and can rapidly learn from her characteristics and behaviour, which are said to be "imprinted" on them.

Human babies do not undergo such rapid imprinting, but many scientists believe the bond between mother and child can have crucial implications in later life and even into adulthood.

The new study, which is reported in the scientific journal Brain and Cognition, involved 20 volunteers with an average age of 35.

Dr Marie Arsalidou, from the University of Toronto, in Canada, who carried out the research along with academics from the University of Winchester, in the UK, said: "Differential activity to mothers' faces may be attributable to greater exposure to one's mothers face during critical childhood years."

She added: "The fact that this activation is even seen in adults who have lived away from their parents for many years does suggest that it is certainly a very long-term effect."

Fathers faces produced a strong response in an area deep inside the brain known to contribute to feelings of affection but failed to produce anywhere near as much brain activity when compared to the volunteers' mothers.

Celebrities faces prompted far less brain activity than images of parents, but greater activity than in strangers faces, mainly due to the recognition and memories those faces induced.

Professor Ann Buchanan, director of the Oxford Centre for Research into Parenting and Children at Oxford University, said: "This brain research is giving a physical understand for things we know emotionally.

"It seems like the brain is born like a disk that has been formatted but nothing has been put into it.

"This crucial interaction between the primary carer, which is usually the mother, is crucial for brain development and later emotional development."

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7969398/Mum-matters-most-in-the-eyes-of-their-children.html