Horm Behav

This article is part of a Special Issue "Parental Care". Early mother-infant relationships play important roles in infants' optimal development. New mothers undergo neurobiological changes that support developing mother-infant relationships regardless of great individual differences in those relationships. In this article, we review the neural plasticity in human mothers' brains based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. First, we review the neural circuits that are involved in establishing and maintaining mother-infant relationships. Second, we discuss early postpartum factors (e.g., birth and feeding methods, hormones, and parental sensitivity) that are associated with individual differences in maternal brain neuroplasticity. Third, we discuss abnormal changes in the maternal brain related to psychopathology (i.e., postpartum depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse) and potential brain remodeling associated with interventions. Last, we highlight potentially important future research directions to better understand normative changes in the maternal brain and risks for abnormal changes that may disrupt early mother-infant relationships.UL1 TR000433/TR/NCATS NIH HHSUnited States/R49CE002099/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/R01DA026437/DA/NIDA NIH HHSUnited States/R01 HD065819/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/R21 HD078797/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/R01 DA026437/DA/NIDA NIH HHSUnited States/R49 CE002099/CE/NCIPC CDC HHSUnited States