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Nursing More Pleasurable Than Cocaine
United Press International
Animal studies show mothers so greatly enjoy nursing their young they choose nursing over ingesting cocaine, Massachusetts researchers found.
Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who studied the brains of female rats found the area of the brain activated when mother rats nursed their young pups is the same area activated by cocaine. The activity is so pleasurable that when given a choice, the maternal rats chose nursing over the drug. Rats that had never given birth chose the cocaine instead.
Mother Nature also appears to have built in a protection for the mother-child bond. When lactating rats where given cocaine, the pleasure circuit in the brain that normally would be involved did not activate and appeared to be somewhat repressed.
"These are fascinating findings that verify what any mother who has breastfed knows: that it is a truly rewarding experience," said Tracey Shors of Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J. "It makes sense that a system would evolve to keep a new mother focused on feeding her infants, because it is so critical for survival."
The study is published in Wednesday's issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
© YellowBrix, Inc. Copyright 1997-2005
Animal studies show mothers so greatly enjoy nursing their young they choose nursing over ingesting cocaine, Massachusetts researchers found.
Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who studied the brains of female rats found the area of the brain activated when mother rats nursed their young pups is the same area activated by cocaine. The activity is so pleasurable that when given a choice, the maternal rats chose nursing over the drug. Rats that had never given birth chose the cocaine instead.
Mother Nature also appears to have built in a protection for the mother-child bond. When lactating rats where given cocaine, the pleasure circuit in the brain that normally would be involved did not activate and appeared to be somewhat repressed.
"These are fascinating findings that verify what any mother who has breastfed knows: that it is a truly rewarding experience," said Tracey Shors of Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J. "It makes sense that a system would evolve to keep a new mother focused on feeding her infants, because it is so critical for survival."
The study is published in Wednesday's issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
© YellowBrix, Inc. Copyright 1997-2005
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