Treatment for depression Blog

Study Links Brain Activity To Parental Instinct

New Details have emerged that a possible brain basis for this parental instinct has been reported in research published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE on February 27.

Very tellingly, this research was led by Morten Kringelbach and Alan Stein from the University of Oxford and was funded by the Wellcome Trust and TrygFonden Charitable Foundation.

Reportedly, the authors showed that a region of the human brain called the medial orbitofrontal cortex is highly specifically active within a seventh of a second in response to (unfamiliar) infant faces but not to adult faces.

Related experts believe that this finding has potentially important clinical application in relation to postnatal depression, which is common, occurring in approximately 13% of mothers after birth and often within six weeks.

It is noteworthy of mention that the present findings could eventually provide opportunities for early identification of families at risk.

Furthermore, there is now evidence from deep brain stimulation linking depression to the nearby subgenual cingulate cortex which is strongly connected with the medial orbitofrontal cortex.

To conclude, it should be noted that the present paradigm could eventually provide opportunities for early identification of families at risk.

posted by Foras Aje @ 9:36 PM