Baby rats are just like us. They want their mommy.
"Rats raised by moms who frequently lick and groom them undergo permanent changes in patterns of gene activity, leading to a penchant for exploratory behavior in stressful situations, say Michael J. Meaney and his colleagues at McGill University in Montreal," reports Science News, in scientific evidence that invites extrapolation to deprived human youngsters:
In contrast, rats raised with little maternal contact end up with gene activity that fosters fearfulness in the face of stress, the researchers report in the August Nature Neuroscience. From an evolutionary perspective, having both behaviors in a population is beneficial.
"Early experience can have lifelong consequences on behavior, and [this new report] reveals the genetic scaffolding of this phenomenon to an unprecedented extent," remarks neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky of Stanford University.
Roger L. Simon, who calls attention to the story, draws a perhaps half-serious connection between neglectful mother rats and totalitarian tyrants:
I don't envy people living in those [repressive Arab] societies. Years ago, when I spent some time in the Soviet Union visiting Soviet writers, I got a sense of what day-to-day existence under a totalitarian government can do to your mind. I am sure in a religious-fascist state or a "kingdom" like Saudi Arabia it is much the same. The extraordinary rigors of that life could even effect your DNA.
We were reminded of Phyllis Chesler's FrontPage review of The Sheik's New Clothes: the Psychoanalytic Roots of Islamic Suicide Terrorism, blogged here a couple of months back. Chesler asked the question "From a psychological and anthropological point of view, what kind of culture produces human bombs, glorifies mass murderers, and supports humiliation-based revenge?" and answered that the authors found a likely source in childrearing practices of the Arab cultures they studied:
In an utterly fascinating and as-yet unpublished book, which I will be introducing, The Sheik's New Clothes: the Psychoanalytic Roots of Islamic Suicide Terrorism, Kobrin, and her Israeli co-author, counter-terrorism expert Yoram Schweitzer, describe barbarous family and clan dynamics in which children, both boys and girls, are routinely orally and anally raped by male relatives; infant males are sometimes sadistically over-stimulated by being masturbated; boys between the ages of 7 and 12 are publicly and traumatically circumcised; many girls are clitoridectomized; and women are seen as the source of all shame and dishonor and treated accordingly: very, very badly.
According to Dr. Kobrin, "The little girl lives her life under a communal death threat -- the honor killing." Both male and female infants and children are brought up by mothers [who are debased and traumatized women]. As such, all children are forever psychologically "contaminated" by the humiliated yet all-powerful mother.
In the 1960's, Harlow discovered that baby monkeys deprived of their mothers (left) would transfer their affections to a cloth surrogate. When they needed to eat, they would scamper over to a milk-bearing wire mother (center) but then quickly return to cuddle with the softer surrogate. (Images courtesy of Harlow Primate Laboratory / University of Wisconsin, Madison)
We are reminded, too, of Harry Harlow's classic primate experiments in the 1960's:
Harlow would begin his experiments by separating the infant monkeys from their mothers and peers, and he noticed that the infants, when separated, became extremely attached to the terry cloth towels covering the cage floors. They would lie on them, grip them in their tiny fists, throw tantrums if they were taken away, just like a human infant with a ratty blanket or a stuffed bear. The monkeys loved these towels.
As scientific techniques become more sophisticated, the role of parental care in brain development is cast in terms of biochemistry, as Paul J. Zak puts in layman's terms in his provocative 2003 Commencement Address at Claremont Graduate University:
Oxytocin facilitates birth through uterine contractions, and initiates milk production for the feeding of offspring. In some mammals, such as prairie voles and humans, oxytocin also facilitates pair bonding. In these highly monogamous species, raising successful offspring is facilitated when there are investments from both parents. Researchers have recently demonstrated that the neural architecture utilizing oxytocin in monogamous vs. promiscuous mammals is different [as we blogged here in June, when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love].
Your brain is also changed by your earliest interactions with your mother. Mammals deprived of mother-love (or a suitable substitute), do not develop normal cognitive or social skills, are emotionally stunted, are sick more often and die younger. The first intimate relationship in your life is with your mother (can you think of any football players who say "Hi Dad" to the TV cameras?) . . . children crave parental love, for this literally constructs their minds.
Note: Headline spelling corrected, with much thanks to Ted for pointing out the error of our ways.
You mean Kerrry can't solve this problem by being nice to our enemies? George W. Bush has the only answer. We must destory this barbarous culture.
Posted by: goomp | July 30, 2004 at 07:47 AM
"The monkey on the wire mother" is one of my calming mantras. The source of this mantra is from the Harlow experiments.
Posted by: Laurence Simon | August 10, 2004 at 12:55 PM
Chi, chi! :)
Posted by: Sissy Willis | August 10, 2004 at 03:17 PM