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.

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.

Social neuroscience is rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field which devoted to understanding how social behavior is implemented by biological factors, and how behaviors in turn impact the brain and biology. Existing volumes either fail to take a neurobiological approach or focus on one particular type of behavior rather, so the field is ripe for a comprehensive reference which draws cross-behavioral conclusions. This authored work will serve as the market s most comprehensive reference on the neurobiology of social behavior.

The volume will offer an introduction to neural systems and genetics/epigenetics, followed by detailed study of a wide range of behaviors aggression, sex and sexual differentiation, parenting, social attachments, mating, empathy, cooperation, and altruism. Research findings on the neural basis of social behavior will be integrated across different levels of analysis, from molecular neurobiology to neural systems/behavioral neuroscience to fMRI imaging data on human social behavior. Chapters will cover research on both normal and abnormal behaviors, as well as developmental aspects.
Presents neurobiological analysis of the full spectrum of social behaviors, while other volumes focus on one particular behaviorIntegrates and discusses research from different levels of analysis, including molecular/genetic, neural circuits and systems, and fMRI imaging researchCovers both normal and abnormal behaviorsCovers aggression, sex and sexual differentiation, parenting, social attachments, mating, empathy, cooperation, and altruism "

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.