Maternal Instincts: A Reconsideration of Gendered Brain Theories

By Alissa Sofia Maria Bocance

The concept of "maternal instincts" has classically been used to describe behavior typically attributed to mothers, such as tending to infants, emotional responsiveness, and parental nurturing. Standard scientific discourse commonly describes such behavior as resulting from internal biological causes, which in turn are normally grounded in evolutionary biology. But feminist neuroscientific perspectives undermine these essentialist accounts, asking how much of what is recognized as "maternal" is hardwired, and how much is shaped by social expectations, gender roles, and cultural constructs. This article attempts to redefine the idea of maternal instincts from a feminist neurobiological perspective, highlighting the interaction of biology, social conditioning, and personal experience in the formation of maternal behaviors.

Traditional Views on Maternal Instincts

The prevailing school of thought in evolutionary psychology thinks that maternal urge is hardwired in women's brains by evolutionary pressures that push the survival of offspring. It informs us that women's neurobiology, as well as brain modules such as the amygdala (which is involved in emotional reactivity) and the prefrontal cortex (which is involved in decision-making and sympathy), is programmed automatically for nurturance. Experiments have shown that hormones such as oxytocin and prolactin are responsible for regulating these behaviors, heightening emotional attachment between mother and child, and caregiving. From this perspective, the brain's structure and functioning are biologically set to yield caring behavior, underpinning gendered family roles.

Feminist neuroscience rebukes this reductionist explanation by highlighting how it perpetuates gender norms. Feminist authors argue that the pathologizing of non-maternal behavior or lack of maternal desire in women who do not meet societal expectations of motherhood perpetuates a biased prejudice against women who are failing to fulfill these roles. Furthermore, they argue, that social forces rather than biology alone affect maternal conduct. This view brings in a more nuanced consideration of maternal instincts, putting them not only under the control of biology but also under the control of society.

Neuroplasticity and Maternal Behavior: Beyond Biology

Feminist neuroscience holds that maternal behaviors, as much as they are determined by hormones, are not solely controlled by biological urges. The knowledge of neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to reorganize itself based on experience—accounts for the changing and adaptive nature of maternal instincts. The idea that women's brains are "wired" for motherhood assumes a universal model of maternal behavior, but neuroplasticity points out that the brain is capable of change and adaptation to a variety of factors, such as life experience, socialization, and choice.

Research into neuroplasticity suggests that caregiving by both biological mothers and non-birthing caregivers engages regions of the brain associated with empathy, emotional regulation, and social cognition. These regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, are instrumental in forming emotional bonds and responding to others' needs. This implicates maternal intuition as not being biologically based but rather as being truly learned through experience and conditioned in the social arena within which care is being given. For instance, mothers from support contexts or getting adequate emotional and social support will have different patterns of neural activity compared to stressed or unsupported women.

Hormonal Factors and the Social Construction of Motherhood

While hormones unquestionably drive maternal behaviors, feminist neuroscience undermines reductionist theories that they command women's natures for caring. Oxytocin, or the "bonding hormone," boosts maternal behavior by causing a loving bond between mother and infant. However, this hormonal response is not felt universally. Feminist theorists believe that taking for granted a universal bond of maternal desire conceals the diverse experiences of women in experiencing motherhood and nurturing. The social pressure to perform motherhood in a specific way tends to ignore those whose maternal experience is divergent, e.g., women who do not feel an instant bond with their child or women who have difficulties with caregiving.

Moreover, feminist literature draws attention to how cultural norms condition how women comprehend and respond to their hormonal cues. Women from different socio-cultural backgrounds could view the same hormonal shifts very differently. Such women, struggling to balance childrearing with working, would report ambivalent feelings about the motherhood task. These early experiences can create a pattern for how their brain responds to nurturing, and subsequently, they establish neural pathways that facilitate both the maternal drive and independence.

The Role of Maternal Experiences in Shaping the Brain

Feminist neuroscience realizes that motherly urges are not a mandatory experience but rather one that depends on a woman's stage in life, societal situation, and personal situation. No single brain structure is entirely dedicated to motherhood, yet different neural loops, like those that deal with empathy, reward, and drive, are turned on when someone is performing caregiving behaviors. These areas, notably the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (involved in reward processing) and insular cortex (involved with empathy and awareness of emotions), demonstrate how care behavior—either maternal or not—elicits neural activity with emotional satisfaction and social reward association.

Neuroimaging studies show that women who are caregivers—whether through biological motherhood, adoption, or caring for others—show similar patterns of brain activation regardless of their biological relationship to the child. This suggests that caregiving behavior is not necessarily caused by hormones but by individual experience and culture. Thus, maternal instincts are not biologically programmed but are largely influenced by a woman's social environment.

Conclusion: Rechanneling Maternal Instincts through Feminist Neuroscience

Feminist neuroscience of maternal instincts complicates the traditional supposition that caregiving behaviors are biologically predetermined. Instead, it proposes that maternal intuitions are the result of an interaction of biological factors, personal experience, and socialization. Neuroplasticity offers a useful model for understanding how women's brains adapt to and respond to their caregiving roles.

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