Periodically as I write this, I am getting high (probably little surprise to our bitchier commenters, but whatever). No, I'm not committing any crimes or endangering my children – quite the opposite, actually.
See, the drug in question is the big gummy grins being provided to me by my almost five-month-old son. In news that will certainly get the big "duh" reaction from parents and grandparents across the land, new brain research has shown that their baby's smile lights up reward centers in mothers' brains similar to those activated by recreational drug use.
Interestingly, sad expressions and other babies' faces didn’t get the same reaction from the mothers studied.
The goal of the research is to better understand the mother-infant bond and why it sometimes fails to kick in.
"The relationship between mothers and infants is critical for child development," said Dr. Lane Strathearn, assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital and a research associate in Baylor's Human Neuroimaging Laboratory. "For whatever reason, in some cases, that relationship doesn't develop normally. Neglect and abuse can result, with devastating effects on a child's development."
I think this sheds light on one of the reasons why the newborn period is so tough – after all, sleep deprivation, nursing struggles, diaper changes and so on all in the service of someone who doesn’t seem to like you very much can be quite the drag. But when you see that first smile, that first recognition your child loves you, well, I'd go through newborn insanity many times over for that.
