Reaction To The Maternal Brain

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Reaction to Craig H. Kinsley’s and Kelly G. Lambert’s Article The Maternal Brain After reading the article, The Maternal Brain by Craig Kinsley and Kelly Lambert, it was evident that through multiple experiments, the reproductive experience seems to promote changes in the mammalian brain and therefore alter the skills and behavior, especially among females. During pregnancy, it has been shown by studies that waves of hormones are triggered in a maternal response to the parent’s surroundings. The pituitary gland, at the base of your brain, and your ovaries are constantly communicating via their respective hormones, dictating the changing hormone levels of your monthly cycle and the production of eggs. Estrogen and progesterone are linked to maternal behavior as stated by Frank A. Beach, in “regulating responses such as aggression and sexuality…” Endorphins act as a painkiller and promote a relaxed sensation among the mother. Oxytocin creates a sense of love and affection mentally when released. With the release of these hormones, the following areas of the brain seem instrumental in the development of maternal behavior. Given the connectivity of prefrontal cortical areas with key limbic subcortical sites such as the olfactory cortex, hypothalamus, amygdala and nucleus accumbens, neuronal activity within the prefrontal cortex would heavily influence the expression of postpartum maternal behaviors. The cingulated cortex which is involved with emotion formation and processing, learning, and memory is key in newly acquired maternal behavior. The nucleus accumbens play an important role in reward, pleasure, laughter, addiction, aggression, fear in the brain. Hypothalamus is responsible for stress responses, sexual behavior, and reproduction. Hippocampus plays a large role in memory which results in spatial memory and navigation. The pituitary gland secretes
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