An attentive, nurturing mother may be able to help her children better resist the temptations of drug use later in life, according to a study involving the University of Adelaide.
Researchers have shown for the first time how mothering can strengthen an offspring’s immune system in the brain. Using rats as a model, neuroscientists demonstrated that if babies are nurtured adequately it increases the production of a molecule in the brain’s immune system called Interleukin-10, leaving them less susceptible to drug cravings as an adult.
Dr Mark Hutchinson, School of Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide