VIEWPOINT
Beyond the Oedipus Complex:
What we know about parent-infant relations and why research on the paternal brain may have lagged behind
By Iciar Iturmendi Sabater
Trapped in myth
I
n Greek mythology, the king of Thebes is warned by an oracle that his son, Oedipus, will slay him, take over the throne, and marry the queen, Jocasta (Oedipus’ own mother). Interestingly, the impact of this omen has reached beyond the ending of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, and has continued to inspire thinkers until today. In The Interpretation of Dreams (1899)1, Sigmund Freud (1886-1939) referred to this myth to represent a child’s unconscious desire to get rid of his father to remain merged to his loving mother, naming it the “Oedipus Complex”. From the start of the 20th century, psychology has carried the weight of the negative connotation of father-infant relations introduced by Freud. It may be time neuroscientific and psychological research on fathers raises its voice over this myth.
A Nobel Prize drawing attention to mothers Ten years after the publication of Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams (1899)1, oxytocin was discovered by Sir Henry H. Dale (190 9). He found that this hormone, produced in the brain’s hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary gland, induced uterus contractions in a pregnant cat. Oxytocin is produced in higher concentrations in women than men. It was the first polypeptide hormone to be synthesised, which earned Vincent du Vigneaud the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1955. The discovery drew world-wide 18 | IMS MAGAZINE WINTER 2022 MEN’S HEALTH
attention and recognition to the power of medical research in unveiling the mechanisms of the maternal brain. Oxytocin (from Greek, meaning “sudden delivery”) is now used to induce labour, known to control lactation and to be involved in diverse reproductive functions in women, including the regulation of the menstrual cycle.2, 3 While knowledge on the functions of oxytocin in mothers kept growing throughout the second half of the 20th century, interest remained limited in understanding to what extent fathers shared oxytocin-related parental functions with mothers, or what alternative mechanisms may underlie the fatherinfant relationship.⁴
of emotion (let that be ceaseless crying and screaming), but she further works through these in her own mind and reflects them back to the infant in a digestible, more tolerable way. For example, the mother opens her eyes widely and slowly says: “I know why you are crying: you are hungry! Food is coming soon”. In this way, Winnicott argued, the mother provides ‘holding’ for the infant’s mental states, or a secure psychological base from which to make sense of one’s intense emotions and to begin exploring the outside world.⁵ It is possible to draw parallels from Winnicott’s work with later findings from neurobiological research.
Parents as mirrors
Metaphors for brain function
As the positivist emphasis of the 20th century propelled neurobiological research on the maternal brain, the development of psychological theories on the mother-infant relationship silently advanced in parallel.
Emotion regulation (provided by a mirroring and holding mother) is known to be mediated by top-down control of the brain’s highly evolved prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of executive control, over more primitive structures like the amygdala, a region highly reactive to emotional triggers.
Freud’s differentiation of the role of the mother and father in the psychological upbringing of their infant is arguably sexist as seen through today’s lens. Yet his work lit the spark for others to reflect upon the psychological processes through which the mother introduces a newborn infant to the world. British paediatrician Donald Winnicott (1896-1971) dedicated his life’s work to this matter. Winnicott studied in detail how the mother acts as a mirror for her infant’s intense emotions: not only is she receptive to the infant’s manifestations
Neuroimaging research finds that functional brain connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala is not yet established in infants and young children. However, when young children are exposed to the same stressful situation in the presence of their mother, connectivity between these regions is boosted, as if the mother was providing some type of stress buffering or holding their child’s emotions.⁶ This boost in connectivity is, in part, explained by the release of oxytocin, Graphic design by Sherry An
