Breastfeeding boosts maternal response towards infants, reports a research led by Dr Pilyoung Kim of the National Institute of Mental Health.
Kim and her colleagues find that the brain regions of mothers related to the care giving behavior show increased response to their infant's cry compared to mothers relying on formula milk. This inference is reached using functional magnetic resonance imaging that tracks responses in mothers' brain when they are breastfeeding.
The research also shows that three or four months after delivery, some of the brain regions continue to get activated and are correlated with sensitive maternal behavior. Findings suggest that the high levels of hormones in breastfeeding play the important role in influencing mothers' brain activity in initial years of the postpartum period.