Becoming a parent: biobehavioral and brain science perspectives

Abstract

This overview is a synthesis of our current understanding of parent-infant bonding, chiefly from the perspective of the parent's brain physiology. The parent-infant bond is central to the human condition, contributes to risks for mood and anxiety disorders, and provides potential resiliency and protection against the development of psychopathology throughout life. While the complex nature of the phenomena and experimental approaches leads to the consideration of many overlapping parenting brain systems, including sensory, emotion, and cognition to support behavior, a relatively small set of brain regions seem to be robustly involved. These include basal ganglia and related cortex for emotion and drive (striatum, amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus), and regulatory cortical regions (anterior cingulate, insula medial frontal, and orbitofrontal cortices). Work in this field promises to link parental brain performance with resilience, risk, and appropriate treatment toward infant mental health.