Euphoric in lactation
2005/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
Brain scanners show that breastfeeding causes the same euphoria as drugs. It is the result of a research conducted in Massachusetts (USA) with rats.
Mother rats and young females (virgins) have been used for research. In fact, they wanted to compare the effect of breastfeeding on the mother's brain with that of cocaine in the virgin female, and it seems that the effect is very similar, since the same parts of the brain are activated.
In addition, offering them cocaine to rats, they have opted for lactation, which makes them feel good. And when they've been injected with cocaine, the stimulation of this part of the brain hasn't been as big as that of breastfeeding.
Now it remains to be known whether breastfeeding in women has the same effect.
