Summary: New research from UCL shows that when mothers regularly talk about their infants’ thoughts, feelings and intentions, their babies have higher levels of oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone closely tied to social bonding, emotional regulation and early relationship formation, and this study links maternal mind-minded speech to measurable changes in infants’ oxytocin.
The study found that emotionally attuned language — for example, naming a baby’s excitement or reflecting their interest — strengthens the psychobiological connection between mother and infant. Mothers who reported symptoms of postnatal depression were less likely to use this type of mind-minded talk, pointing to an opportunity for targeted support to promote infants’ social and emotional development.
Key facts:
- Infants’ salivary oxytocin levels were higher when mothers frequently referred to their child’s internal states (thoughts, feelings, desires).
- Oxytocin plays a central role in shaping early social experience and attachment through caregiver interactions.
- Postnatal depression in mothers was associated with reduced use of mind-minded comments about the infant.
Source: UCL
Infants whose mothers habitually describe what their baby might be thinking or feeling show higher oxytocin levels, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL.
Oxytocin is a neuropeptide involved in a wide range of social and emotional processes. It helps shape parent–child bonding, trust, social understanding and other relational functions across the lifespan. The new findings suggest that the way caregivers talk to infants about internal states influences infants’ oxytocin biology and may support early social development.
The study, published in Development and Psychopathology, observed 62 new mothers aged 23 to 44 and their infants aged three to nine months. Each mother–infant pair was recorded during five minutes of natural interaction, and researchers coded how often and how accurately mothers made mind-related comments — remarks that reference the infant’s thoughts, feelings, desires or perceptions.
Researchers also collected saliva samples from the infants to measure oxytocin levels. When they examined the relationship between maternal mind-minded comments and infant oxytocin, they found a clear positive association: more frequent, appropriate references to the infant’s internal state corresponded with higher infant oxytocin.
Lead author Dr Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) explained that while oxytocin’s involvement in close social bonds has long been recognized, the pathways linking caregiving behavior and infants’ oxytocin systems were not well understood. “Our results reveal, for the first time, a direct correlation between the frequency with which a mother talks to her baby about the baby’s thoughts and feelings and the baby’s oxytocin levels,” she said. “This suggests oxytocin helps regulate children’s early social experience and is shaped by how parents interact with their infants.”
In practical terms, mind-mindedness looks like a parent saying, “You like that toy,” or “You seem excited,” and mirroring a baby’s actions or facial expressions. These sensitive responses communicate understanding of the infant’s internal state, and the study’s findings indicate this attunement is reflected biologically in the infant’s oxytocin system.
The research team also reports that mothers experiencing symptoms of postnatal depression used fewer appropriate mind-related comments than mothers without depressive symptoms. This reduced mind-mindedness was associated with lower infant oxytocin levels, highlighting a potential mechanism by which maternal mood can influence early social development.
Dr Lindley Baron-Cohen emphasized that these results reveal a new psychobiological link between maternal language and infant hormone levels. “Emotionally sensitive speech appears to be directly mirrored in infants’ oxytocin, underscoring how caregivers contribute to shaping their child’s social and emotional trajectory,” she said. The findings point to the value of supporting mothers with depression to increase emotionally attuned interactions that can benefit infants’ developing social systems.
Funding: The research received funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) ARC North Thames, the Lord Leonard and Lady Estelle Wolfson Foundation, Wellcome Trust, the University of York, the Fund for Psychoanalytic Research through the American Psychoanalytic Association, the International Psychoanalytical Association, the Michael Samuel Charitable Trust, the Denman Charitable Trust, and the Galvani Foundation.
About this neurodevelopment research news
Author: Poppy Tombs
Source: UCL
Contact: Poppy Tombs – UCL
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. “Maternal mind-mindedness and infant oxytocin are interrelated and negatively associated with postnatal depression” by Kate Lindley Baron-Cohen et al., Development and Psychopathology. DOI: 10.1017/S0954579424001585
Abstract
Maternal mind-mindedness and infant oxytocin are interrelated and negatively associated with postnatal depression
Previous research indicates that maternal mind-mindedness — the tendency to view and treat infants as individuals with minds — supports children’s social development. This set of studies examined how mind-mindedness during parent–child interaction relates to infant oxytocin levels and maternal postnatal depression. The sample included 62 mother–infant pairs (mothers aged 23–44; infants aged 3–9 months).
In Study 1, infants’ salivary oxytocin was positively correlated with mothers’ appropriate mind-related comments and showed a trend toward a negative correlation with maternal depression scores. Mothers showing depressive symptoms used fewer appropriate mind-related comments than non-depressed mothers. Study 2 was a double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment in which the same participants received intranasal oxytocin; this intervention did not significantly change levels of mind-mindedness, suggesting the need for larger trials to assess oxytocin’s causal role.
Study 1 is the first to demonstrate an association between maternal mind-mindedness and individual differences in children’s oxytocin. Given the repeated links of both oxytocin and mind-mindedness to attachment processes, this association highlights the importance of caregivers’ representations and emotionally attuned interactions in supporting parent–child relationships and early social development.