On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 15:10:53 +1100, Karleen Gribble
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Winnie,
>
> There's been a bit of research on this. They have actually found that even
> virigin rats have their brains changed when they are placed in the position
> of caring for babies (Modney BK, Hatton GI. (1994). Maternal behaviors:
> evidence that they feed back to alter brain morphology and function Acta
> Paediatrica Supplement 397: 29-32.). I

it probably works for older sibs too- the famous Prairie Voles
(Microtus ochragaster)  older litters care for their mother's new
litters -   It's very sweet to look into a nest and see a batch of
little heads, mom and dad and the new babies latched on so tightly
that you can pick up the mother and the babies come along with her.

for those of you who don't know- lots of the research on oxytocin is
done on Prairie Voles and lots of it has been done by Sue Carter, now
at the NIH but who was a college professor of mine  (at the University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) who was very forthright in espousing
what we call "attachment parenting" as part of the continuum of
reproduction.

I've seen my second daughter change in her attitude and patience
toward babies since her brother was born.   My oldest was born with a
love of babies and has been very nurturing, but my second was not.
Over time, she has appreciated babies more and become more patient
with them- I assumed it was a learned behaviour but now I'm thinking
it might be hormonal.   I wonder if it wears off?


--
Kate, http://systems.cs.colorado.edu/~kolina/advantages-of-formula.html
  Mom to Ursula (9.9), Sage (7), Benno (3.7)   "Halloween is a big
holiday for older people. Somehow we got the idea it's healthier if
good people impersonate evil instead of evil people impersonating
goodness."  Garrison Keillor

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html