Seeing a baby smile may be a natural high to mothers

There are few things in the world more adorable than a baby’s smile.

Parents live to make their children happy, and a new study suggests they are made happier in return.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine had 28 first-time moms view pictures of babies – both their own and others – while scientists took images of the mothers’ brains.

In some pictures, the babies were happy, while in others they had neutral or sad expressions.

Not surprisingly, the mother’s brains showed more activity in response to pictures of their own children.

Doctors got the strongest reaction in response to smiling babies – pictures of the happy babies activated reward centers in their mothers’ brains.

These are the same areas that light up in the brains of drug addicts, so in essence, smiling babies are a natural high.

Researchers say these neural responses likely contribute to mother-baby bonding.

They were surprised to find that mothers did not have an increased response to the sight of their baby crying compared to pictures of other crying infants – suggesting that reaction to a baby’s distress may be universal.