Babies' Smiles a Source of Dopamine?

You know smiling makes you feel good. But your baby's smile? Sure, it makes you giggle. Or beam a grin too. But now researchers show, in a small study, that seeing your own baby's smile releases dopamine, the "pleasure" neurotransmitter.
In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers used MRIs to study mamas' brain reactions to various pictures of their infants: happy, sad, and neutral. When shown a picture of their own smiling babies, mothers' brains rewarded them with a shot of dopamine.
There was less of a reaction for the sad or expressionless baby faces. And interestingly, mamas reacted the same whether the pictures were of their own crying babies, or unfamiliar babes.

But you don't need research to tell you any of that. Remember those first couple of months as a new mom? You definitely felt rewarded every time that sweet baby smiled! And hearing any baby cry was a let-down trigger.
Researchers are using this study to further delve into the mother-child bond. All they'd really have to do was talk to a few natural mamas. We could teach them a thing or two about bonding.