Dr. Michael Meaney featured in Toronto Star
Is maternal instinct a myth? What the new science tells us about mom brains
"The notion of a 'maternal instinct' is sheer nonsense," Michael Meaney, a professor of medicine at McGill University told me. Meaney, whose lab studies the neuroscience of maternal care, said "misperceptions associated with a 'maternal instinct' do an incredibly serious disservice to women. There is nothing 'instinctive' about maternal motivations or behaviour. These are states shaped by years of developmental experience and the quality of the current environment, including financial considerations. If we truly care about mothers and their children, we need to embrace the simple fact (that) motherhood is the responsibility of the society within which women develop and reproduce."