Tucker, Abigail. 2021. Mom Genes.
3 Fetal microchimerism: your fetus donates cells that wander around your body and wind up in heart, brain, thyroid, …
One woman had a lobe of her damaged liver rebuilt by cells from an aborted son (she had no children).
2014 NIH admits not using enough female subjects or female cell lineages
In the month after birth, moms are 23 times as likely to become bipolar than at any other time of life.
Brains of new moms are changed and changing to see the world in new ways; reward responses esp. change. No specific mom behaviors come with this.
Among the very few human specific behaviors is left-side cradling.
Perhaps so baby sees more of mom
Perhaps so mom has more input to emotional, right side of brain.
The periaqueductal gray of any human responds to any baby face in 99ms, irrespective of race of baby. Unique among mammals.
The changes in the brain as one becomes a mom:
infant-centric pleasure, heightened sensitivity to baby cues, bull-headed motivation.
New moms think of their babies 14 hrs/d.
41 11% of moms become obsessive-compulsive, vs 2% of general pop.
Loss of up to 7% of gray matter; changes in brain diagnosable by brain scans.
Call it maternal unmasking.
New dads are not so diagnosable.
Ch 2 Dad Genes
Normal neuro anatomy: F larger hippocampus, M larger amygdala
45 care by males as common as by females in fish.
46 90% of birds share work of rearing.
47 5% of mammals get help from dad.
Men rate fatherhood as 27% of personal ID; expected 17%
Women rate motherhood as 55% of ID; expected 16% before the changes.
Experience makes men become more paternal; they pay a lot of attention to how much the baby face resembles theirs. So do paternal grandmas.
en take paternity leave.
67% of tenure track women take maternity leave.
55 Canadian single dads have increased rates of cancer & heart attacks;
3 times as likely as single moms to die.
59 identifies earlobe shapes as genetically determined: [wrong.]
62 placental shapes structures vary among mammals.
30 miles of surface area in humans.
umbilical cord blood vessels cannot be compressed.
Placenta calls for hormonal changes, later makes its own progesterone & pts of estrogen.
Placenta expresses dad genes.
Placenta makes it harder for mom to access her own blood sugar
makes appetite & thirst rise.
Placenta makes 25% of mom’s blood serve embryo, opens mom’s blood vessels.
Ch 3 The Whole Shebang
70 inject virgin F rat with mom rat blood to make her act like a mom.
In mice 3 hrs of oxytocin makes a virgin F respond to pup distress calls;
oxytocin receptors in left auditory cortex.
estrogen enhances oxytocin receptors in various parts of the brain.
77 in front of the hypothalamus is the medial preoptic area (mPOA) which
can be stimulated to cause mom behavior.
mPOA reaches to the ventral tegmental area: dopamine pleasure center.
hormones are replaced by neural connections with experience.
83 male rats can be “maternalized” with effort; F easier to induce.
adoptive human mothers become similar, but not the same as biol mothers.
84 willingness of our species to adopt allows more aggressive demands for resources by young: mom can be replaced.
Ch 4 Mommy Weirdest
87 easily awakened by disturbing dreams
less grossed out by fleas or poop
blunted stress response
92 better discrimination of colors
better recognition of faces
more attention to male faces
93 cows are more dangerous than bulls; female rage UK
lactating mothers are more aggressive than are bottle feeders (prolactin)
memory problems
100 lost sleep: 700hrs in first year.
103 Ch 5 Mother of Inventions
mom brains show diversity
109 mom brains change with each pregnancy
experience w babysitting seems to help with mothering
First time births average 21yrs in 1972, 26 yrs now
Over 40 rate continuing to rise. Younger moms more likely to kill the baby, more postpartum depression
older moms better with praise, structural play, attention to diet, prenatal care.
better executive function
118 under 25s still developing.
122 breast feeding moms 5x less likely to neglect young.
123 breast feeding helpful for bonding after C-section.
2nd time mom has mom brain up & running, may miss previous giddiness.
3rd time moms do worse on verbal recall tests.
129 Ch 6 In Search of the Mom Genes
licked vs less licked rat pups and high vs low contact babies make better moms.
epigenetic in rats better moms had genes unmethylated for oxytocin receptors,
more oxytocin cells.
even in foster families
Ch 7 Why the Child is Father to the Mom
153 fetal hrt beat at 37 weeks ~140.
fetal activity levels vary by 5x, impacts mom.
Baby personality affects mom: ADHD, drugs
173 Moms favor cuter babies & healthier babies.
175 boys cause more diabetes, early birth, C-sections,
are larger, slower growing, more demanding on mom, & frailer.
#boymoms 70% more likely to have depression, more strongly react w disgust,
less morning sickness, use 10% more calories.
177 Mom’s milk for boys has 25% more calories; other mammals also.
178 Multiple boys, more mom mortality.
infanticide targets girls.
188 What stresses new moms the most are chronic shortages or erratic resources: lack of diapers, hunger, poverty.
Stress undoes the boldness and calmness of new moms in rats.
194 Abortions & miscarriages rise with unemployment, also unittentional
injuries to babies (distracted moms).
50% of conceptions fail to proceed.
Stresses reduce frequency of males.
207 Distant parenting, cortisol in the milk may prepare the child for an adverse environment.
209 Ch 9 No Mom is an Island
The maternal grandmother helps the most; paternal is unsure of paternal parent.
Mom’s social network is very important.
Voles that mate for life, dad helps with young; remove male and mom carries on (depressed), but she does not pair bond again. She will mate & rear more broods, though.
241 Ch 10 Motherland
Collectivist Asians become as individualistic in a single generation. Tiger moms disappear.
251 Happier moms in Holland & Nepal & Singapore. Less income diversity seems to help.
Less happiness where moms work outside home over 40 hrs/week.
255 Recommendations:
Guaranteed, lengthy maternal leave.
Financial support for new moms, continuing.
Improve delivery etc hospital rooms: single family occupancy.
Reduce C-section variation: 7 to 70%.
Longer hospital stays to nudge behavior
Same team throughout delivery.
Baby box of stuff
Home visits.
Longer Medicaid coverage for new moms.
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