Have you seen this new study?

Have you seen the results of a new study in Tokyo about the mothering instinct and whether or not it is biological?  Researchers used functional MRIs to look at the activity in a mother’s brain when shown pictures of children that are happy and in distress.  What is most interesting in their study is the finding that a mother’s brain activity is actually markedly different when shown images of their own baby in distress (crying for their mothers) than it is when they see pictures of other babies.

This is not to say that moms don’t react when they see other babies in distress, but it seems significant that their brain activity is increased when they are shown images of their own children upset.  This raises the question “Is the maternal instinct hard-wired into our brain?” 

There’s not enough information yet to make that assumption, but it certainly does open up the possibility.  Now, no studies have been done yet on fathers, though I’m sure those will come in time. 

What is interesting to me about this particular study and the possible implications of it is a question I am often asked.  “How do I explain this to my husband?  I understand what ADHD is, but my husband doesn’t believe it.”  Or he doesn’t accept it, or he doesn’t understand it, or he won’t acknowledge it.  The list goes on.  So, this recent study brings about the question, do we as mothers understand simply because we are hard-wired to understand and feel our children’s pain?  Or are we more understanding than our male counterparts?  Or does it simply seem that way?