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Displaying maternal sensitivity towards infant cues, processing those cues and being motivated to engage socially with her infant and attend to the infant's needs in any context could be described as mothering behavior and is regulated by many systems in the maternal brain. Reasearch has shown that hormones such as oxytocin, prolactin, estradiol and progesterone are essential for the onset and the maintenance of maternal behavior in rats, and other mammals as well. Mothering behavior has also been classified within the basic drives (sexual desire, hunger and thirst, fear, power/dominance etc).

HORMONES AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE MATERNAL BRAIN
It was found that hormones and overall well being of the mother accounted for 40%-50% of differences in the mother's attachment to her infant.

Effects of Oxytocin on the Maternal Brain
The levels of oxytocin found in the maternal brain have been found to correlate with maternal behaviors such as gazing, vocalization, positive affect, affectionate touch and other similar mother-infant relationship behaviors.

Effects of Estradiol and Progesterone on the Maternal Brain
High mother-infant attachment has been found to correlate with a higher ratio of estradiol/progesterone at the end of pregnancy, than at the beginning.

Effects of Cortisol on the Maternal Brain
In the first few postpartum days, the levels of cortisol were found to be high, which correlated with maternal approach behavior and positive maternal attitudes. Mothers with high levels of cortisol were also found to be more vocal towards their children. Mothers who experienced adversity in their own childhood, were found to have higher diurnal cortisol levels, and were found to be less maternally sensitive.

NEUROANATOMY OF THE MATERNAL BRAIN
Different areas/structures of the brain are associated with different factors which contribute to maternal behavior. One's own infant acts as a special stimulus which triggers activation of different areas of the brain which together allow for maternal behavior and related systems.

Medial Preoptic Area of the Hypothalamus
The Medial Preoptic Area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus contains receptors for estradiol, progesterone, prolactin, oxytocin, vasopressin and opioids. All these hormones are involved in some way in activating maternal behavior in the brain. The following are other behavioral changes that the MPOA is responsible for : The amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex also contain receptors for the hormones which are most likely to be changing behavior at the time of pregnancy, and may be the sites where these changes occur. Increased activity has also been observed in the amygdala as the mother is responding to emotions seen in negative (fearful) faces, positive faces  or familiar faces that her baby makes.
 * mother's affect (changes made by the amygdala, prefrontal cortex)
 * stimulus salience (changes made by the amygdala and nucleus accumbens)
 * attention (changes made by the nucelus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex)
 * memory (changes made by the nucleus accumbens and medial prefrontal cortex).

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(DLPFC) plays a role in the attention, cognitive flexibility and working memory of the mother. It helps the mother identify infant cues. In any environment and efficiently, it allows for the decision-making and action planning process involved in attending to the infant's cues.

EARLY EXPERIENCES AND SHAPING THE MATERNAL BRAIN
Women who had a positive experience involving their family in their childhood are found to be more likely to be more maternally sensitive and provide that same experience for their own children. Mothers that had negative experiences involving their families were found to undergo neurobiological changes which led to high stress reactivity and insecure attachment. This resulted in lower maternal responsiveness to their infant's needs.

Rat mothers were found to provide high levels of maternal care (licking and grooming) to their offspring if they themselves received high maternal care as a pup from their own mothers. Rat mothers who received low levels of maternal care as pups were found to have lower levels of expression of the glucocorticoid receptor gene and lower synaptic density in the hippocampus. In human mothers, lower hippocampal volume has been associated with a lower ability to regulate emotions and stress, which can be linked with decreased maternal sensitivity as a mother.