It’s a bad idea to get between a mother and her young. Mothers, especially those with newborns, are known to defend their young fiercely. Now researchers say they may know the brain chemistry that makes new mothers so protective.
Studies in animals have shown that new mothers have low levels of CRF, a brain chemical linked to fear and anxiety. In a new study published in Behavioral Neuroscience, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, injected different levels of CRF into mother mice.
Mothers that received either low levels of CRF or none at all protected their young most fiercely against male intruder mice. Mothers given the highest levels didn’t protect their young at all. The study suggests that the natural lowering of CRF that occurs after pregnancy may give mothers the urge to protect their young.
