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The importance of mother–infant communication for social bond formation in mammals
Author(s) -
OKABE Shota,
NAGASAWA Miho,
MOGI Kazutaka,
KIKUSUI Takefumi
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1111/j.1740-0929.2012.01014.x
Subject(s) - psychology , odor , cognition , developmental psychology , reciprocal , bond , communication , neuroscience , linguistics , philosophy , finance , economics
ABSTRACT Mother–infant bonding is a universal relationship of all mammalian species. Here, we describe the role of reciprocal communication between mother and infant in the formation of bonding for several mammalian species. Mother–infant bond formation is reinforced by various social cues or stimuli, including communicative signals, such as odor and vocalizations, or tactile stimuli. The mother also develops cross‐modal sensory recognition of the infant, during bond formation. Many studies have indicated that the oxytocin neural system plays a pivotal role in bond formation by the mother; however, the underlying neural mechanisms for infants have not yet been clarified. The comparative understanding of cognitive functions of mother and infants may help us understand the biological significance of mother–infant communication in mammalian species.