A team of researchers from Germany explored how early maternal relationships influence long term behavior in adulthood. Their findings suggest that individuals who felt little warmth from their mothers or who were generally uninterested in maternal affection tended to seek approval and social validation more often than others. The study was reported in Translational Psychiatry, a publication within the Nature family of journals.
The researchers proposed that a lack of maternal love during childhood can be linked to parental separation experiences, which may contribute to the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms later on. This pattern aligns with the idea that early relational stress can shape vulnerability to stress related disorders throughout life.
In a neuroimaging study involving adults from Europe and North America, researchers examined brain structure and function in a sample that included 118 participants. Among these, 86 individuals carried clinical diagnoses for various mental health conditions, and the analyses revealed altered changes in the striatal region of the brain. The striatum is a key node in the neural network that regulates motivation and reward processing through dopamine signaling, which can be influenced by social rewards.
To investigate how the brain responses to different types of rewards, the team conducted a reward reactivity experiment. Participants were shown a range of stimuli, including representations of monetary gains such as coins, wallets, and banknotes, alongside images depicting people expressing different emotions.
The results showed a clear distinction in neural responsiveness. When participants viewed material reward cues like a wallet or money, the neural activity was markedly lower than the response elicited by images of cheerful faces. This pattern was particularly pronounced in individuals whose striatal brains showed prior alterations, suggesting that social rewards held greater salience for these individuals than tangible rewards.
The findings imply that for people with striatal changes, social interactions and emotional warmth may carry more neural significance than monetary incentives. In practical terms, hugs, recognition, and genuine human connection can be more rewarding on a neural level than financial gain for these individuals.
Beyond reward processing, the observed brain changes may have broader implications for quality of life. Children who experience neglect or insufficient parental warmth are at elevated risk for later mental health concerns. The research highlights potential links to conditions such as major depressive disorder, somatic symptom disorders, and the possible worsening of post-traumatic stress symptoms when stressors accumulate later in life. These connections underscore the importance of early relational environments in shaping mental health trajectories over decades and across populations.