nvestigation of the neuroendocrinological basis involved in the human paternal and maternal behaviors

本研究的目的是确定父亲和母亲行为的生物学基础，并阐明其特定的大脑和激素功能的特点。我们研究了父母和非父母之间以及父母中催产素受体基因多态性所划分的组之间对婴儿面部刺激的大脑激活模式是否不同。首先，我们发现父亲似乎表现出与非父亲不同的大脑激活。第二，从我们的数据的时间依赖性影响从怀孕到母亲的母亲的大脑活动，我们已经表明，产后激素和经验，以照顾他们的婴儿有助于改变他们的大脑功能从未生育的女性母亲的可能性。最后，我们发现催产素受体基因多态性可以调节母体情感。

The purpose of the present study is to determine the biological basis for paternal and maternal behavior and to clarify the characteristics of their specific brain and hormone functions. We examined whether the brain activation patterns in response to infant facial stimuli are different between parents and non-parents and between the groups divided by the oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms in parents. First, we found that father seemed to show the brain activation different from non-fathers. Second, from our data for the time-dependent effect from pregnancy to motherhood on the maternal brain activities, we have shown the possibility that both the post partum hormones and experiences to take care of their infant contribute to the change of their brain function from nulliparous females to mothers. Finally, we have shown that the oxytocin receptor genetic polymorphisms would modulate the maternal affections.