Posted on 02/18/2023 1:50:35 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Prairie voles mate for life.
In addition to their humanlike inclination to stick with a mate, a rarity among mammals, prairie voles have a number of other similarities to us, including similar organs and neurological pathways, and many of the same genes.
A journal study has shown that prairie voles don't form the pair-bonds they're famous for if they're born via cesarean section.
The study comes with a caveat, though, adding to the intrigue: If the researchers intervened with an emergency dose of the hormone oxytocin upon delivery, the prairie voles would retain the ability to pair-bond at maturity.
Carter has long asserted that changes in hormones and gene expression must occur in order for social bonds to not only form, but endure.
The finding that prairie voles can't pair-bond after C-section unless helped along by oxytocin could have implications for obstetricians. So far, though, the team is cautious about extrapolating to humans.
Currently, about a third of all births in the United States are by C-section. And about two-thirds of all birth inductions are with Pitocin, the synthetic form of oxytocin.
The C-section research also found that male prairie vole pups born by C-section were unable to regulate their body temperatures as well as voles born naturally. This led to abnormal behavior, such as not huddling as well for warmth. They also had altered gut biomes at adulthood, holding implications for oxytocin transfer and future behavior, Carter said.
"We don't yet know if the increased brain connectivity in males is good, bad or neutral," Perkeybile said, "only that it is different. From other work, we do know that these animals whose moms were treated with oxytocin just before giving birth, modeling labor induction in humans, are more social as adults."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
You should see the gender reassignment surgery.
Ans breast augmentation is really cool.
When a friend recommended this video, I thought to watch it in a few sittings...
Once started I could not stop!
It is one hour long.
00:16:00 Breast Feeding, C-Sections & Pets
“We explore the early establishment of your microbiome and how your mode of delivery into the world (C-section or not) shapes your gut. “
Dr. Justin Sonnenburg: How to Build, Maintain & Repair Gut Health | Huberman Lab Podcast #62
From my personal experience as the mother of five:
Baby 1 died in utero at 12 weeks; delivered vaginally during miscarriage.
Baby 2 delivered vaginally at 37 weeks. Now a college graduate and married.
Baby 3 delivered via emergency c-section due to premature abruption of the uterus. He is now in college.
Baby 4 died in utero at 16 weeks; delivered vaginally during miscarriage.
Baby 5 delivered via c-section at 37 weeks. He is now in high school.
I love them all. I bonded with them all. I would kill for or die for my children. How they arrived here and whether they are in Heaven or on Earth has no impact on my love for them.
Now, if they behave like brats or don’t do their chores, I might not like them very much...but I still love them.
Almost as if life was planned, or something...
This is really interesting research. If we actually still had some kind of scientific method that was actually in use, I’d be interested in confirmation, and maybe further study. Unfortunately, we are essentially in a post-science world.
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