The smell of babies is addictive, and science explains why

For most people, especially those who are parents, the baby smell is one of the most pleasant they have ever smelled. We love having them in their arms, looking at them, pampering them and kissing them, but if there is something that makes us really crazy about babies, and what we would become addicted to is their smell. Why do babies smell so good? Why does your smell attract us so much?

Various studies have delved into the motives behind this intoxicating smell, what it is due to and the effects it has on the mother with super interesting conclusions.

How is the baby smell

Do you remember the smell of your baby, just like that, without powders, colognes, or lotions? There is nothing like the natural smell of the baby's skin, a sensation impossible to describe.

There are mothers who compare it with the aroma of vanilla, biscuit, fresh bread ... and even that of breast milk ... what a shame that it can not be stored in a jar!

But behind that smell that causes us a feeling drunk There are various scientific theories that try to explain its origin and function. The smell of babies, in fact, could have helped shape our evolutionary history.

Why do they smell so good?

It is an unmistakable aroma, an imprint that is chemically etched in the brain. In fact, a study published decades ago showed that 90 percent of mothers are able to identify their own baby by its smell among a group of babies.

According to SciShow, there is a natural reason why babies smell so good. That particular smell that persists for about six weeks after the baby is born may be due to leftovers of amniotic fluid, as well as vernix caseosa, which is the white substance that covers the baby's skin at birth.

The smell of our baby is always pleasant and there is a physiological response to why babies smell so good. They do not have active sweat glands because their perspiration mechanism is not yet regulated, so they do not have a bad smell.

In Babies and more Babies are not born dirty: the first bath can wait

The smell of baby, a natural drug

There is also an explanation as to why we feel so enthralled by the smell of our baby. Why activates endorphins in the mother's brain. Endorphins are natural opiates secreted by the brain at the level of the pituitary gland. Faced with pleasant experiences, this small gland is stimulated producing endorphins, also known as the happiness hormone.

It is not surprising that we become addicted to that particular smell of the baby because endorphins act in the body as a natural drug.

A 2013 study published in the medical journal Frontiers notes that this smell affects certain regions of the brain of all women, especially those who have recently been a mother. For this, the reactions suffered by their brains were measured when in contact with pajamas of newborns.

They observed that when they feel the smell of a baby, the same mechanisms are activated in the mother that are activated when an addict consumes drugs or when a very hungry person eats.

It fulfills the function of establishing a chemical relationship with his mother, as a kind of caller that generates in the mother's brain a Biological need to provide protection and food for their offspring. Until now, research has focused on mothers, so it is unclear whether parents react in the same way, but assume that it would give similar results.

Johannes Frasnelli, a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Department of the University of Montreal, and director of the study, argues that the smell of newborns undoubtedly plays a role in the development of motivational and emotional responses between mother and child , and acts as a survival mechanism.

"Babies attract parents with their scent to make sure that stay fed, hot and safe."

It could help treat depression

According to the Swedish research magazine forskning.se, researchers from the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm are investigating whether that smell could one day be used to treat depression.

The team made 30 women sniff hats previously worn by newborn babies. While women inhaled the aroma, researchers study their brains with a magnetic camera, reports Sciencenordic. Images were also collected when women experienced other odors.

The results were convincing: the smell of baby hats seemed to affect the brains of women in a similar way to medications used to treat mental illness.

The results were convincing: the smell of baby hats seemed to affect the brains of women in a similar way to medications used to treat mental illness.

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