In addition to filling a need within the field of parental behavior, this book contributes importantly to the growing area of emotional and motivational neuroscience. A major part of neuroscience research at the whole organism level has been focused on cognitive neuroscience, with an emphasis on the neurobiology of learning and memory, but there has been a recent upsurge in research which is attempting to define the neural basis of basic motivational and emotional systems which regulate such behaviors as food intake, aggression, reproduction, reward-seeking behaviors, and anxiety-related behaviors. In this book the emphasis is on the research findings obtained from rodents, sheep and primates. The authors' goal, of course, was to provide a foundation that may help us understand the neurobiology of human parental behavior. Indeed, the last chapter attempts to integrate the non-human research data with some human data in order to make some inroads toward an understanding of postpartum depression, child abuse, and child neglect. Clearly, motivational and emotional neuroscience has close ties to psychiatry, and this connection will be very evident in the final chapter. By understanding the neurobiology of parental behavior we are also delving into neurobiological factors which may have an impact on core human characteristics involved in sociality, social attachment, nurturing behavior, and love. In this very violent world, it is hard to conceive of a group of characteristics that are more worthy of study.

This book presents cutting edge research on the basic neurobiology of parental behavior as it relates to behavioral disorders, including postpartum depression, anxiety, and inadequate parental bonding to infants. Internationally recognized basic and clinical researchers present new research findings in humans and animals that elucidate the roles of the brain, physiological state, genes and environment in maternal and paternal care. By bridging the gap between basic and clinical research, new understandings of how the biology of the brain and the reproductive state of the parent impact their mental health and the successful rearing of young emerge. * Presents the neural network of motherhood based on fundamental and functional MRI studies of parental care - from rodents to humans * Discusses the role of gene-environment interactions in parenting * Offers parenting strategies and priorities in raising young * Discusses maternal defense - the neurobiology of maternal protection * Examines the significance and underlying causes of postpartum depression * Discusses parenting and anxiety – neurobiological basis for reductions during the postpartum period * Also includes the neurobiology of fatherhood – a fresh evolutionary and biological perspective on paternal behavior * Presents information on maternal neuroplasticity - how reproductive history changes the maternal brain * Translates research – internationally renowned researchers' insights into common factors that regulate mammalian parenting

The Parental Brain: Mechanisms, Development, and Evolution explores the neural circuits and development of the parental brain, and the view that these circuits formed a template for the evolution of other types of prosocial bonds. The book is unique in its multilevel approach and integration of animal and human research.

Walking readers through the core brain systems involved in caregiving and the various types of blocked care that can occur, readers learn how to harness their brain chemistry to master emotional regulation, strengthen reflective capacities, expand attunement, and remain mindful.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER From a leading child psychologist comes this groundbreaking new understanding of children’s behavior, offering insight and strategies to support both parents and children. Nominated for Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel H. Pink's Next Big Idea Club Over her decades as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Mona Delahooke has routinely counseled distraught parents who struggle to manage their children’s challenging, sometimes oppositional behaviors. These families are understandably focused on correcting or improving a child’s lack of compliance, emotional outbursts, tantrums, and other “out of control” behavior. But, as she has shared with these families, a perspective shift is needed. Behavior, no matter how challenging, is not the problem but a symptom; a clue about what is happening in a child’s unique physiologic makeup. In Brain-Body Parenting, Dr. Delahooke offers a radical new approach to parenting based on her clinical experience as well as the most recent research in neuroscience and child psychology. Instead of a “top-down” approach to behavior that focuses on the thinking brain, she calls for a “bottom-up” approach that considers the essential role of the entire nervous system, which produces children’s feelings and behaviors. When we begin to understand the biology beneath the behavior, suggests Dr. Delahooke, we give our children the resources they need to grow and thrive—and we give ourselves the gift of a happier, more connected relationship with them. Brain-Body Parenting empowers parents with tools to help their children develop self-regulation skills while also encouraging parental self-care, which is crucial for parents to have the capacity to provide the essential “co-regulation” children need. When parents shift from trying to secure compliance to supporting connection and balance in the body and mind, they unlock a deeper understanding of their child, encouraging calmer behavior, more harmonious family dynamics, and increased resilience.

The Parental Brain: Mechanisms, Development, and Evolution presents a comprehensive analysis of how the brain regulates parental behavior in nonhuman animals and in humans, how these brain mechanisms develop, and how such development can go awry, leading to faulty parental behavior. Further, the proposal is examined that the maternal brain served as a foundation or template for the evolution of other types of strong prosocial bonds in mammals, such as the hyper-prosociality that occurs in humans. Unique aspects of this book are its multilevel perspective and the integration and comparison of animal and human research in order to create a complete understanding of the parental brain. Topics covered include the following: · Maternal, paternal, and alloparental behavior · Hormonal regulation of parental behavior · Oxytocin and parental behavior · Subcortical neural circuits regulating parental behavior in nonhuman mammals · The interactions between cortical and subcortical neural circuits that are associated with parental cognitions, emotions, and behavior in humans · How maternal care directed toward one's infants influences the development of the parental brain in the affected infants · The intergenerational transmission or continuity of normal and abnormal maternal behavior · The involvement of epigenetics and gene by environment interactions in the development of the parental brain · Evolutionary perspectives on the parental brain, particularly with respect to alloparenting and cooperative breeding that have provided a framework for appreciating how the parental brain could have provided a foundation for the hyper-prosociality that occurs within human social groups This book will be a valuable resource for behavioral neuroscientists and neuroendocrinologists, social neuroscientists, developmental psychobiologists and psychologists, anthropologists, and evolutionary psychologists with an interest in parental behavior, mother-infant relationships, child development, and the evolution of prosocial behavior.