TITLE:
Maternal Behavior Their Adjustments and Implicated Factors
AUTHORS:
Esther Pérez-Torrero, Lorena Rubio-Navarro
KEYWORDS:
Maternal Behavior, Lactation, Mother-Pup Relationship, Offspring, Brain, Suckling
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science,
Vol.5 No.2,
February
26,
2015
ABSTRACT: The maternal behavior in mammals is one of the most stable and highly conserved motivated species-specific behaviors and crucial for reproductive functions. During maternal behavior nursing and feeding are associated factors with survival of mammalian offspring, mammals nurse their newborn in a wide diversity in the behavioral. In the mother relationship the suckling is the behavioral patterns that identified and unified mammals and showed several selected evolutionary conserved behavior. The milk is an important reward for the pups, it ensure the surviving. The quality of maternal behavior is transmitted between generations; the inadequate maternal care has harmful effects in the adulthood individual. The specific maternal pattern modalities differ greatly between species; the human bonding has underlying biological mechanisms similar in mammals. Maternal brain is modified in order to prepare the mother-pup relationship, being crucial for the adequate behavioral display in the mother-pup relationship. A bulk of surrounding factor such as sensorial stimulus, temperature, ultrasonic communication, and reinforcing stimulus determines the quality of the nursing and care of the progeny. Mother care and nursing quality have long lasting effects in adulthood, determining cognitive and behavioral development and some specific psychiatric and psychological condition in human populations.