Children share a special lifelong bond with their mothers which may be rooted in how the brain reacts when we see our mothers’ face.

When adults look upon their mothers’ face, it triggers a stronger response in the brain than when they look at pictures of strangers and that of their father, according to scientists.

Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, researchers measured the brain activity of volunteers, with an average age of 35 years, as they were shown pictures of their parents, strangers and celebrities, reports the Telegraph.

When they viewed images of their mother, the scientists found that it “lit up” key areas, associated with recognition and emotion, according to the journal Brain and Cognition.

The findings suggest that mothers produce a complex and lasting emotional and cognitive response in their children’s brain, as a result of the bonding experience that takes place between them and their children, as babies.

Marie Arsalidou from the University of Toronto in Canada, who led the study with academics from the University of Winchester, Britain, said, “Differential activity to mothers’ faces may be attributable to greater exposure to one’s mother’s face during critical childhood years.”

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