Mariella Careaga in The Scientist:
For many first-time moms, parenting feels like a continuous learning experience. At the same time, some aspects of parental care seem to come naturally, as if they were hardwired in the brain. The instinctive nature of parental behavior is not exclusive to humans.
Caring for offspring is an adaptation essential for the survival of many animal species and therefore relies on conserved brain circuits that have been shaped by evolution over generations. In the 1960s and 1970s, scientists started to explore parental behavior in animal models and showed that virgin female rodents, which typically avoid unfamiliar pups, could either exhibit maternal care spontaneously or after receiving estrogen, progesterone, and prolactin hormones, which surge in females about to give birth.1,2 Evidence from animal studies also suggested that the hypothalamus—one of the oldest and tiniest regions of the brain—played a role in maternal behavior.3 Yet, it took researchers another 40 years and many methodological advances to dissect the components of the neural circuitry that control parental behavior in detail.
More here.
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