Education

[Ghostybear73]

I just finished a research paper on hormone deficiencies and maternal neglect. To be more specific, the hormones oxytocin, dopamine and prolactin. It appears as though there is a positive correlation between two. Numerous studies have been done that prove the lack of these hormones during pregnancy inhibit the bonding between a mother and her newborn. In fact, there is talk about administering intranasal oxytocin to pregnant women who show a decrease in these hormones in hopes of preventing the neglect (physical and mental) that some infants go through as this continuously effects a person throughout childhood. Obviously this is much more complex than just hormones or there would be issues with parents who adopt or use surrogates, but it is a start in a positive direction.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to decrease postpartum depression and increase the bond between a mother and infant, thus preventing some of the abuse we all have been through at the hands of our mothers?

 

[DMerish]

Hi GB -

Can you briefly describe the ways those three hormones work?

 

[Ghostybear73]

Hey DMerish-

It's complicated, so I am going to upload the file. It's a short read, but has easy explanations to what the hormones do. Okay, the file is not supported. I'll copy and paste it, hope I don't get in trouble. I have already submitted it to the "Turnitin" plagiarism site, so nobody steal it......lol. Here it is:


Maternal neglect as a result of hormone deficiency

Maternal neglect is a direct result of the lack of bonding between a mother and her newborn baby. You hear stories in the media of mothers who kill their newborn children and think to yourself, “how can a mother do that to their child”? Could there be a medical reason that explains this phenomenon? This paper will provide an overview of the effects of prolactin, oxytocin and dopamine deficiencies on a new mother and it’s correlation on a mother’s bond between her and her newborn. It will also address how these findings relate to non-biological parents.

A major challenge within the public is maternal neglect. This form of neglect has major effects on the overall development and health (both physical and mental) of a child. Research has shown that this lack of bonding has something to do with a decrease in the essential hormones dopamine, oxytocin and prolactin. To understand this better, lets define these hormones and their actions.

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide hormone that is released from the posterior pituitary gland into the bloodstream. During childbirth, this hormone helps the contraction of the uterus and assists lactation by ejecting milk. When a person has a problem with their pregnancy or wants to pick a specific date for birth, an artificial hormone, Pitosin, is used to induce contractions and assist labor and delivery. According to Strathearn (2011), oxytocin neurons play an important role in the development of maternal and social behaviors by projecting centrally into the brain regions. Oxytocin in essence activates the dopaminergic system within the brain that signals the “reward pathways in response to social cues”. Oxytocin has many other effects on the body. For example, oxytocin production increases as you kiss someone you love or even hug them. One of the more interesting aspects of oxytocin is that during sexual intercourse it is increasingly stimulated (Oxytocin-pair bonding).

Dopamine (a neuromodulator) effects the central nervous system, where behavior and mood is noted to be effected. In a study performed by Strathearn in 2011, it was suggested that atypical dopamine activity within the maternal brain, especially the regions involved in reward, has a direct correlation to naturally occurring neglect. Strathearn states, “In insecure/dismissing attachment, which may be associated with emotional neglect, we see reduced activation of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine reward system in response to infant face cues, as well as decreased peripheral oxytocin response to mother-infant contact”.

During pregnancy, prolactin becomes elevated and helps in the formation of the nerves within the maternal brain. Evidence shows that women who have low prolactin levels in the first trimester of pregnancy have increased postpartum depression and anxiety. It also has been shown to impair maternal behavior. There is also evidence to suggest an increase in anxiety and a delay in the beginning stages of puberty in the daughters of mothers who have low levels of prolactin during pregnancy (Larson and Gratton, 2012).

All of the studies that involve maternal neglect as an effect of deficiencies of oxytocin, dopamine and prolactin during pregnancy defy the ideology of non-biological parents. If these studies are a true account of maternal neglect, than it would be correct to say that adoptive parents or parents who utilize a surrogate mother will inevitably be predisposed to maternal neglect. However, that does not always ring true as noted in today’s society. According to Levay and Baldwin, (2012, pg. 353), it much more complex than that of just hormonal deficiencies. The conflict comes from the study that primates show positive maternal behavior when they adopt a strange infant. In addition, the primates show “aunting” behavior, which means they will take on the mother’s role to another female’s infant.

In conclusion, there is a strong clinical correlation between the effects of hormonal deficiencies and maternal neglect. This does answer the questions as to how a mother can abuse and even kill their offspring, but still leaves some questions in relation to the positive maternal response in non-biological parenting. There is obviously much more information needed to understand this phenomenon, but the research continues in hopes that one day there will be a better understanding of what causes maternal neglect.

References:

Gammie, Stephen C., et al. “Altered Dopamine Signaling in Naturally Occurring Maternal Neglect.” Plos ONE 3.4 (2008): 1-12. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 13 Nov. 2013

Larsen, C.M., and D.R. Grattan. "Prolactin, Neurogenesis, And Maternal Behaviors." Brain, Behavior & Immunity 26.2 (2012): 201-209. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

Levay, Simon, and Janice Baldwin. Human Sexuality. 4th ed. Sunderland: Sinaur Associates, 2012. 56. Print

"Oxytocin-pair bonding." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, LLC, n.d. Web. 16 Nov 2013. <[DLMURL]http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/oxytocin>[/DLMURL].

Strathearn, L. “Maternal Neglect: Oxytocin, Dopamine And The Neurobiology Of Attachment.” Journal of Neuronendocrinology 23.11 (2011): 1054-1065. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

Strathearn, Lane, et al. "Adult Attachment Predicts Maternal Brain And Oxytocin Response To Infant Cues." Neuropsychopharmacology 34.13 (2009): 2655-2666. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.


Ghostybear

 

[DMerish]

Fascinating. Good job on the paper. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Ghostybear73]

Thank you. Now I get to sit with anticipatory anxiety while awaiting my professor to grade it. This does not bode well for a person with PTSD.

:(

 

[Promicarus]

Another great related work is "Trauma: Neurobiology and Treatment". While your focus is on the cause of a deficiency in pair-bonding, the aforementioned details the effects of it. Namely, how "" results in offspring's relaively low concentration of gluccocorticoid receptor, especially in the Hippocampus, and Locus Coroleus...now accepted as primary characteristics of the textbook version of the neurophysiological model of PTSD, attendant to, as well as ultimately consequent to which, are reduced Hippocampal volumes (associated with reduced serotonin levels, as well as short term memory loss, and deficits in episodic memory), and the phenomenon of neurophysiological hyperactivity to stress hormones, itself core to the cascade effect of PTSD in inevitable further down-regulation of gluccocorticoid receptor density overall over time, due to the feedback mechanism involved in receptor density regulation, as well as the incidental aberrant sensitization of the HPA, and similar effects upon the amygdala, the "fear center".

Long story short, this looks as though it may well be the actual neurophysiological.underpinnings of neglect as responsible for attachment disorders, as well as the snowballing effect of early life "priming" resulting in increasingly greater degrees of sensitization through down-regulation of gluccocorticoid receptors, and therefore, the compounding of varieties and degrees of trauma-related symptomology, in the adult.

If so, it would be also necessarily therefore impact upon the foundational psychodynamic theory of "Object Relations", as principle to increasingly severe obstacles to attachment during age progression, as a function of a previously idiopathic maladaptive neurophysiological phenomenon. now potentially subject to medical treatment modalities, as a result of neuroanatomical identification.

Is this the beginning of putting PTSD/Trauma into the hands of the physical scientists, as objectively quantifiable--at least in theory?

 

[Meadowsweet]

Maternal neglect is a direct result of the lack of bonding between a mother and her newborn baby.

I wish you well with your paper. However, the statement above is a pretty wild statement to make.

Animals are wholly reactive and may neglect newborns because of a lack of hormones. But human beings have intelligence, thought and learned knowledge that enables them to care for a new born perfectly well without any hormonal or emotional bond.

Certain tribal people share child care. In the west it is common to hand baby over to a nanny/childminder and for mother to go to work. Then ofcourse, there is adoption, mothers who have died etc etc. and I have never seen a study to show that these children are neglected.

So whilst the hormone might help lessen cases of postpartum depression. Maternal neglect is not always a result of that.

 

[Ghostybear73]

Hey meadowsweet,

I agree, which is why my paper includes that same conclusion. Please read the last paragraph, the 6th paragraph and the last sentence of the first paragraph at least, as it will confirm what you just said.

Really, I posted this paper in response to the question of what the oxytocin, dopamine and prolactin do in the body. I thought it an interesting study for those of us with PTSD.

Please remember that it is a reseach paper based off statistical information from neurobiologists, neuroendocrinologists, neuropsychologist, etc. I cannot change what they have proven or not, as that would be considered plagiarism.

Take this for what its worth, an interesting bit of information that may interest some others as it did me.

Ghostybear

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Uhm plagiarism is ripping off someone else's ideas and claiming them as your own. Changing their ideas isn't plagiarism. It's not the right thing to do, but it's not plagiarism.

 

[Ghostybear73]

Well, didn't I start a hornets nest. Okay, if you go to plagiarism.org, you will find numerous forms of plagiarism, one being changing the content, in this case their ideas, of the writers words and definition. I only know this because I teach at a university where they are very strict on plagiarism.

I'm really not interested in defending myself tonight. I will remove the post tomorrow as I'm going to bed.

Have a nice Thanksgiving everyone!!

 

[Promicarus]

@Ghostybear73
Thanks for your effort. I did find the article very interesting, and relevent to PTSD sufferers. I wonder if a separate section for science related research articles, etc. might help create a separate space for those more comfortable with the material?

Thanks again!

 

[Ghostybear73]

@Promicarus, I agree and thank you.

I regretted doing this assignment once I started it because of the torture I endured as a child and the sexual abuse and beatings I continuously allowed as an adult.

What would have taken a normal person a day or so took me a week or so because I kept disocciating and had a hard time focusing, so I completely undertand what you are saying.

Thanks again and have a nice Thanksgiving!!!