Instinct and Experience Can Both Contribute to Recognizing a Newborn Cry

Ever wonder how mothers and caregivers around the world are able to distinguish their baby's cries? A new study in rodents reveals how it happens.

Through hard-wired instincts and on-the-job experience, mothers and caregivers are able to decipher the meaning behind a newborn's cries. As every infant has a unique way of crying, being able to differentiate and recognize the signs of subtle distress and other kinds of calls are critical in providing the best possible childcare.

This new study was conducted by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where they notice female mice that have never had their own pups before, instinctively hurried to fetch the crying infant. The researchers were also able to observe that certain nerve cells in the auditory cortex, the part of the brain responsible for processing sound, became active when the mice heard the wails.

Experienced "babysitter" mice were also able to recognize more variations of cries, such as cries for attention, as compared to mice with little caregiving experience. However, when these unexperienced animals were able to spend more time together with a veteran caregiver, they were observed to respond to a wider variety of cries and would also quickly retrieve the babies.

Jennifer Schiavo, the lead author of the study, said that this showed that even if some parenting skills are innate, a significant learning curve is important for both mother mice and humans. Hard-earned experience matters in giving proper child care. 

This study was published in Nature.

(Photo: pixabay)

See more: Researchers Have Made A Medical Breakthrough in the Fight Against Sepsis

Role of Oxytocin

The research revealed how oxytocin played a role in learning parenting behavior. With extra amounts of the chemical present, which is best known for its role in breastfeeding and parent-infant bonding, it improves how caregivers were able to recognize barely audible pup distress calls. 

The researchers tried to block oxytocin and this caused even experienced babysitters to retrieve crying pups as little as 40 percent of the time, compared to well over 80 percent when the hormone levels were left undisturbed.

Without the presence of oxytocin, even with spending time with experienced mothers, the cells in the auditory cortex were not able to respond to a broader range of distress calls. This suggests that oxytocin helps rewire the brain and prepare it to adapt to learning new skills more easily.

The authors of the study authors only compared expert and inexperienced caregivers, neither groups had their own pups. This way they would be able to differentiate instinct versus learned elements of parenting, without pregnancy complicating the matter. 

Robert Froemke, PhD., senior study author, said that the team is planning to investigate whether the inexperienced mice can learn through passively observing mothers or if they are actively trained to respond to unusual calls.

Universal Response in Brain and Behavior

When an infant cries, it can excite adults to respond with empathy and care, but others may respond with neglect or even abuse. Infant cry is a trigger to maltreatment. 

The researchers found that mothers had an urgent and consistent response to crying babies, it takes five seconds from the start of the cry to picking up and attending to the infant's needs. This may also be due to oxytocin, as it can help shape a mother's brain to respond to her offspring's needs.

Further Reading: Consumption of Sugary Drinks While Breastfeeding May Impact Infant Cognitive Development?

Check out more news and information on Parenting on MD News Daily.