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Bergman NJ. New policies on skin-to-skin contact warrant an oxytocin-based perspective on perinatal health care. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1385320. [PMID: 39049943 PMCID: PMC11267429 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1385320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Background In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a Global Position Paper on Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), which is applicable to all countries worldwide: from the moment of birth, every "small and sick" newborn should remain with mother in immediate and continuous skin-to-skin contact (SSC), receiving all required clinical care in that place. This was prompted by the startling results of a randomized controlled trial published in 2021: in which 1,609 infants receiving immediate SSC were compared with 1,602 controls that were separated from their mothers but otherwise received identical conventional state-of-the-art care. The intervention infants showed a 25% reduction in mortality after 28 days. New perspectives The new WHO guidelines are a significant change from earlier guidance and common clinical practice. The author presents that separating mothers and babies is assumed to be "normal" (a paradigm) but actually puts newborns at increased risk for morbidity and mortality. The author presents arguments and ethical perspectives for a new perspective on what is "normal," keeping newborns with their mothers is the infant's physiological expectation and critical requirement for healthy development. The author reviews the scientific rationale for changing the paradigm, based on synchronous interactions of oxytocin on both mother and infant. This follows a critique of the new policies that highlights the role of immediate SSC. Actionable recommendations This critique strengthens the case for implementing the WHO guidelines on KMC for small and sick babies. System changes will be necessary in both obstetric and neonatal settings to ensure seamless perinatal care. Based on the role of oxytocin, the author identifies that many current routine care practices may actually contribute to stress and increased vulnerability to the newborn. WHO has actionable recommendations about family involvement and presence in newborn intensive care units. Discussion The concepts of resilience and vulnerability have specific definitions well known in perinatal care: the key outcome of care should be resilience rather than merely the absence of vulnerability. Newborns in all settings and contexts need us to re-evaluate our paradigms and adopt and implement the new WHO guidelines on KMC in perinatal care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nils J. Bergman
- Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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2
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Donaghy R, Shinskey J, Tsakiris M. Maternal interoceptive focus is associated with greater reported engagement in mother-infant stroking and rocking. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302791. [PMID: 38900756 PMCID: PMC11189230 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Parental caregiving during infancy is primarily aimed at the regulation of infants' physiological and emotional states. Recent models of embodied cognition propose that interoception, i.e., the perception of internal bodily states, may influence the quality and quantity of parent-infant caregiving. Yet, empirical investigations into this relationship remain scarce. Across two online studies of mothers with 6- to 18-month-old infants during Covid-19 lockdowns, we examined whether mothers' self-reported engagement in stroking and rocking their infant was related to self-reported interoceptive abilities. Additional measures included retrospective accounts of pregnancy and postnatal body satisfaction, and mothers' reports of their infant's understanding of vocabulary relating to body parts. In Study 1 (N = 151) and Study 2 (N = 111), mothers reported their engagement in caregiving behaviours and their tendency to focus on and regulate bodily states. In a subsample from Study 2 (N = 49), we also obtained an objective measure of cardiac interoceptive accuracy using an online heartbeat counting task. Across both studies, the tendency to focus on and regulate interoceptive states was associated with greater mother-infant stroking and rocking. Conversely, we found no evidence for a relationship between objective interoceptive accuracy and caregiving. The findings suggest that interoception may play a role in parental engagement in stroking and rocking, however, in-person dyadic studies are warranted to further investigate this relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosie Donaghy
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Jeanne Shinskey
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Manos Tsakiris
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
- Centre for the Politics of Feelings, Senate House, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Egham, London, United Kingdom
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3
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Santaguida E, Bergamasco M. A perspective-based analysis of attachment from prenatal period to second year postnatal life. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1296242. [PMID: 38840732 PMCID: PMC11150629 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1296242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Attachment is one of the foundational themes in the history of the psychological development of human beings. For this reason, we assume that it must be approached by taking into account multiple scientific perspectives. The present review aims at analyzing the state of the art regarding the genetic, neurobiological and cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of attachment bonding, considering the child as the frame of reference. We hypothesize that attachment may be present in prototypical forms even in the prenatal period, thus our analysis has a temporal origin in the intrauterine period preceding birth. The intrauterine period is assumed to be a period of maximum sensitivity to stimuli and in particular to those coming from a potential primary caregiver: the biological mother. We conclude with a reframing of the state of the art and propose that future research work would benefit from a superordinate model of attachment, capable of containing and regulating all its components and variables.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Santaguida
- Institute of Mechanical Intelligence, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy
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4
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Firk C, Großheinrich N. Infant carrying: Associations with parental reflective functioning, parental bonding and parental responses to infant crying. Infant Ment Health J 2024; 45:263-275. [PMID: 38288564 DOI: 10.1002/imhj.22106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Infant carrying may have beneficial effects on the parent-infant relationship but only limited research has been conducted in this area. Therefore, the main aim of the current study was to investigate whether infant carrying is associated with parental reflective functioning, parental bonding, and parental (emotional) and behavioral responses to infant crying, key elements within the parent-infant relationship, promoting infant development. Parents reporting high levels (N = 389) of infant carrying (six times a week or daily) and parents reporting low levels (N = 128) of infant carrying (less than once a week or not at all) who participated in an online survey about the developing parent-infant relationship in Germany were included in the present study. Standardized questionnaires were used to assess parental reflective functioning, parental bonding impairments, and emotional responses to infant crying. Further insensitive (non-responsive and hostile) behaviors in response to infant crying were assessed. Parents with high levels of infant carrying showed better parental reflective functioning, lower parental bonding problems, less negative emotions, and less insensitive behaviors in response to infant crying.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Firk
- Department of Social Sciences, Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Eestphalia, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Health Research and Social Psychiatry, Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Westphalia, Aachen, Germany
| | - Nicola Großheinrich
- Institute of Health Research and Social Psychiatry, Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Westphalia, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Social Sciences, Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Eestphalia, Cologne, Germany
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5
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Bortolini T, Laport MC, Latgé-Tovar S, Fischer R, Zahn R, de Oliveira-Souza R, Moll J. The extended neural architecture of human attachment: An fMRI coordinate-based meta-analysis of affiliative studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 159:105584. [PMID: 38367888 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024]
Abstract
Functional imaging studies and clinical evidence indicate that cortical areas relevant to social cognition are closely integrated with evolutionarily conserved basal forebrain structures and neighboring regions, enabling human attachment and affiliative emotions. The neural circuitry of human affiliation is continually being unraveled as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) becomes increasingly prevalent, with studies examining human brain responses to various attachment figures. However, previous fMRI meta-analyses on affiliative stimuli have encountered challenges, such as low statistical power and the absence of robustness measures. To address these issues, we conducted an exhaustive coordinate-based meta-analysis of 79 fMRI studies, focusing on personalized affiliative stimuli, including one's infants, family, romantic partners, and friends. We employed complementary coordinate-based analyses (Activation Likelihood Estimation and Signed Differential Mapping) and conducted a robustness analysis of the results. Findings revealed cluster convergence in cortical and subcortical structures related to reward and motivation, salience detection, social bonding, and cognition. Our study thoroughly explores the neural correlates underpinning affiliative responses, effectively overcoming the limitations noted in previous meta-analyses. It provides an extensive view of the neural substrates associated with affiliative stimuli, illuminating the intricate interaction between cortical and subcortical regions. Our findings significantly contribute to understanding the neurobiology of human affiliation, expanding the known human attachment circuitry beyond the traditional basal forebrain regions observed in other mammals to include uniquely human isocortical structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago Bortolini
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; IDOR - Pioneer Science Initiative, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Maria Clara Laport
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Sofia Latgé-Tovar
- Institute of Psychiatry, Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Ronald Fischer
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; IDOR - Pioneer Science Initiative, São Paulo, Brazil; School of Psychology, PO Box 600, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6021, New Zealand
| | - Roland Zahn
- Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; The Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jorge Moll
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, The D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; IDOR - Pioneer Science Initiative, São Paulo, Brazil
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6
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Swider-Cios E, Turk E, Levy J, Beeghly M, Vroomen J, van den Heuvel MI. The association of maternal-infant interactive behavior, dyadic frontal alpha asymmetry, and maternal anxiety in a smartphone-adapted still face paradigm. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 66:101352. [PMID: 38310719 PMCID: PMC10847859 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Mother-infant interactions form a strong basis for emotion regulation development in infants. These interactions can be affected by various factors, including maternal postnatal anxiety. Electroencephalography (EEG) hyperscanning allows for simultaneous assessment of mother-infant brain-to-behavior association during stressful events, such as the still-face paradigm (SFP). This study aimed at investigating dyadic interactive behavior and brain-to-behavior association across SFP and identifying neural correlates of mother-infant interactions in the context of maternal postnatal anxiety. We measured frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), a physiological correlate of emotion regulation and a potential marker of risk for psychopathology. To emulate real-life interactions, EEG and behavioral data were collected from 38 mother-infant dyads during a smartphone-adapted dual-SFP. Although the behavioral data showed a clear still-face effect for the smartphone-adapted SFP, this was not reflected in the infant or maternal FAA. Brain-to-behavior data showed higher infant negative affect being associated with more infant leftward FAA during the still-face episodes. Finally, mothers with higher postnatal anxiety showed more right FAA during the first still-face episode, suggesting negative affectivity and a need to withdraw from the situation. Our results form a baseline for further research assessing the effects of maternal postnatal anxiety on infants' FAA and dyadic interactive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edyta Swider-Cios
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, 5000 LE, Tilburg, the Netherlands
| | - Elise Turk
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, 5000 LE, Tilburg, the Netherlands; Department of Neonatology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Jonathan Levy
- Department of Criminology and Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002 Israel; Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Rakentajanaukio 2, 02150, Espoo, Finland
| | - Marjorie Beeghly
- Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, 5057 Woodward Ave, Detroit, USA
| | - Jean Vroomen
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, 5000 LE, Tilburg, the Netherlands
| | - Marion I van den Heuvel
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, 5000 LE, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
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7
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Kiel N, Samdan G, Wienke AS, Reinelt T, Pauen S, Mathes B, Herzmann C. From co-regulation to self-regulation: Maternal soothing strategies and self-efficacy in relation to maternal reports of infant regulation at 3 and 7 months. Infant Ment Health J 2024; 45:135-152. [PMID: 38175546 DOI: 10.1002/imhj.22098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
This study, conducted in Germany, examines the role of maternal soothing strategies to explain the association of maternal self-efficacy with infant regulation (crying and sleeping behavior). Questionnaire data of 150 mothers, living in Germany, with mixed ethnic and educational backgrounds were collected when infants were 3 and 7 months old. Two types of maternal soothing strategies were distinguished: close soothing, involving close physical and emotional contact, and distant soothing, involving physical and emotional distancing from the infant. A cross-sectional SEM at 3 months indicated that maternal self-efficacy is associated with reported infant regulation through distant soothing strategies. Low maternal self-efficacy was associated with frequent maternal use of distant soothing, which in turn was related to reported infant regulation problems, that is, non-soothability and greater crying frequency. Frequent use of close soothing was associated with reported infant sleeping behavior, that is, frequent night-time awakenings. A longitudinal SEM further indicated that the effects of close soothing persisted at least until the infants' age of 7 months. The study showed how low maternal self-efficacy, increased use of distant soothing, and reported early infant regulation problems are intertwined and that, due to their persisting positive effect on infant soothability, close soothing better supports infant development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Kiel
- Human and Health Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Gizem Samdan
- Human and Health Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Annika S Wienke
- Human and Health Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Tilman Reinelt
- Department of Neonatology, University of Zurich, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Center for Individual Development and Adaptive Education of Children at Risk, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sabina Pauen
- Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Birgit Mathes
- Human and Health Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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8
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Habouba N, Talmon R, Kraus D, Farah R, Apter A, Steinberg T, Radhakrishnan R, Barazany D, Horowitz-Kraus T. Parent-child couples display shared neural fingerprints while listening to stories. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2883. [PMID: 38311616 PMCID: PMC10838923 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53518-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Neural fingerprinting is a method to identify individuals from a group of people. Here, we established a new connectome-based identification model and used diffusion maps to show that biological parent-child couples share functional connectivity patterns while listening to stories. These shared fingerprints enabled the identification of children and their biological parents from a group of parents and children. Functional patterns were evident in both cognitive and sensory brain networks. Defining "typical" shared biological parent-child brain patterns may enable predicting or even preventing impaired parent-child connections that develop due to genetic or environmental causes. Finally, we argue that the proposed framework opens new opportunities to link similarities in connectivity patterns to behavioral, psychological, and medical phenomena among other populations. To our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal the neural fingerprint that represents distinct biological parent-child couples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nir Habouba
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ronen Talmon
- Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Dror Kraus
- The Institute of Child Neurology, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | - Rola Farah
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Alan Apter
- The Department of Psychological Medicine, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | - Tamar Steinberg
- The Department of Psychological Medicine, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel
| | | | - Daniel Barazany
- The Alfredo Federico Strauss Center for Computational Neuroimaging, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
- The Institute of Child Neurology, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petach Tikvah, Israel.
- Department of Neuropsychology, Center for Neurodevelopmental and Imaging Research (CNIR), Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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9
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Schneider I, Herpertz SC, Ueltzhöffer K, Neukel C. Stress and reward in the maternal brain of mothers with borderline personality disorder: a script-based fMRI study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2024; 274:117-127. [PMID: 37354380 PMCID: PMC10786970 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-023-01634-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with altered neural activity in regions of salience and emotion regulation. An exaggerated sensitization to emotionally salient situations, increased experience of emotions, and dysfunctional regulative abilities could be reasons for increased distress also during parenting. Mothers with BPD tend to have less reciprocal mother-child interactions (MCI) and reveal altered cortisol and oxytocin reactivity in the interaction with their child, which could indicate altered processing of stress and reward. Here, we studied underlying neural mechanisms of disrupted MCI in BPD. Twenty-five mothers with BPD and 28 healthy mothers participated in a script-driven imagery functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-paradigm. Scripts described stressful or rewarding MCI with the own child, or situations in which the mother was alone. Mothers with BPD showed larger activities in the bilateral insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) compared to healthy mothers during the imagination of MCI and non-MCI. Already in the precursory phase while listening to the scripts, a similar pattern emerged with stronger activity in the left anterior insula (AINS), but not in the ACC. This AINS activity correlated negatively with the quality of real-life MCI for mothers with BPD. Mothers with BPD reported lower affect and higher arousal. An exaggerated sensitization to different, emotionally salient situations together with dysfunctional emotion regulation abilities, as reflected by increased insula and ACC activity, might hinder sensitive maternal behavior in mothers with BPD. These results underline the importance for psychotherapeutic interventions to improve emotional hyperarousal and emotion regulation in patients with BPD, especially in affected mothers caring for young children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabella Schneider
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University, Voßstr. 4, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Sabine C Herpertz
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University, Voßstr. 4, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kai Ueltzhöffer
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstr. 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Corinne Neukel
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University, Voßstr. 4, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany
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10
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Barendse MEA, Allen NB, Sheeber L, Pfeifer JH. Associations Between Parenting Behavior and Neural Processing of Adolescent Faces in Mothers With and Without Depression. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2024; 9:41-49. [PMID: 35724852 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2022.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study first examined how mothers with and without depression differ in neural activation in response to adolescents' affective faces. Second, it examined the extent to which these neural activation patterns are related to observed positive and aggressive parenting behavior. METHODS Mothers with and without depression (based on self-reported symptoms and treatment history; n = 77 and n = 64, respectively; meanage = 40 years) from low-income families completed an interaction task with their adolescents (meanage = 12.8 years), which was coded for parents' aggressive and positive affective behavior. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, mothers viewed blurry, happy, sad, and angry faces of unfamiliar adolescents, with an instruction to either label the emotion or determine the clarity of the image. RESULTS The depression group showed less activation in the posterior midcingulate than the control subject group while labeling happy faces. Higher activation in the insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC) was related to less positive parenting behavior. Ventrolateral PFC activation was most pronounced when labeling negative emotions, but stronger ventrolateral PFC response to happy faces was associated with more aggressive parenting behavior. CONCLUSIONS This demonstrates the association between parents' neural responses to adolescent faces and their behavior during interactions with their own adolescents, with relatively low insula and dorsomedial PFC activation supporting positive parenting and affect-dependent response in the ventrolateral PFC as being important to limit aggressive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjolein E A Barendse
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.
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11
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Riva G, Wiederhold BK, Mantovani F. Searching for the Metaverse: Neuroscience of Physical and Digital Communities. CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 2024; 27:9-18. [PMID: 37057986 PMCID: PMC10794843 DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2023.0040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
What distinguishes real-world communities from their online counterparts? Social and cognitive neuroscience research on social networks and collective intentionality will be used in the article to answer this question. Physical communities are born in places. And places engage "we-mode" neurobiological and cognitive processes as behavioral synchrony, shared attention, deliberate attunement, interbrain synchronization, and so on, which create coherent social networks of very different individuals who are supported by a "wisdom of crowd." Digital technologies remove physical boundaries, giving people more freedom to choose their activities and groups. At the same time, however, the lack of physical co-presence of community members significantly reduces their possibility of activating "we-mode" cognitive processes and social motivation. Because of this, unlike physical communities that allow interaction between people from varied origins and stories, digital communities are always made up of people who have the same interests and knowledge (communities of practice). This new situation disrupts the "wisdom of crowd," making the community more radical and less accurate (polarization effect), allowing influential users to wield disproportionate influence over the group's beliefs, and producing inequalities in the distribution of social capital. However, a new emergent technology-the Metaverse-has the potential to reverse this trend. Several studies have revealed that virtual and augmented reality-the major technologies underlying the Metaverse-can engage the same neurobiological and cognitive "we-mode" processes as real-world environments. If the many flaws in this technology are fixed, it might encourage people to engage in more meaningful and constructive interactions in online communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Riva
- Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
- Humane Technology Lab, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | - Brenda K. Wiederhold
- Virtual Reality Medical Center, La Jolla, California, USA
- Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Fabrizia Mantovani
- Centre for Studies in Communication Sciences “Luigi Anolli” (CESCOM), Department of Human Sciences for Education “Riccardo Massa,” University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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12
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Allen KB, Tan PZ, Sullivan JA, Baumgardner M, Hunter H, Glovak SN. An Integrative Model of Youth Anxiety: Cognitive-Affective Processes and Parenting in Developmental Context. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 2023; 26:1025-1051. [PMID: 37819403 DOI: 10.1007/s10567-023-00458-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
Multiple theoretical frameworks have been proposed to provide a more comprehensive picture of the risk factors that influence anxiety-related developmental trajectories. Nonetheless, there remains a need for an integrative model that outlines: (1) which risk factors may be most pertinent at different points in development, and (2) how parenting may maintain, exacerbate, or attenuate an affective style that is characterized by high negative emotional reactivity to unfamiliar, uncertain, and threatening situations. A developmentally informed, integrative model has the potential to guide treatment development and delivery, which is critical to reducing the public health burden associated with these disorders. This paper outlines a model integrating research on many well-established risk mechanisms for anxiety disorders, focusing on (1) the developmental progression from emotional reactivity constructs early in life to those involving higher-level cognitive processes later in youth, and (2) potential pathways by which parenting may impact the stability of youth's cognitive-affective responses to threat-relevant information across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristy Benoit Allen
- Departments of Applied Behavioral Science and Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
| | - Patricia Z Tan
- Department of Psychiatry/Mental Health, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Megan Baumgardner
- Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Hannah Hunter
- Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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13
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Shimon-Raz O, Yeshurun Y, Ulmer-Yaniv A, Levinkron A, Salomon R, Feldman R. Attachment Reminders Trigger Widespread Synchrony across Multiple Brains. J Neurosci 2023; 43:7213-7225. [PMID: 37813569 PMCID: PMC10601370 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0026-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Infant stimuli elicit widespread neural and behavioral response in human adults, and such massive allocation of resources attests to the evolutionary significance of the primary attachment. Here, we examined whether attachment reminders also trigger cross-brain concordance and generate greater neural uniformity, as indicated by intersubject correlation. Human mothers were imaged twice in oxytocin/placebo administration design, and stimuli included four ecological videos of a standard unfamiliar mother and infant: two infant/mother alone (Alone) and two mother-infant dyadic contexts (Social). Theory-driven analysis measured cross-brain synchrony in preregistered nodes of the parental caregiving network (PCN), which integrates subcortical structures underpinning mammalian mothering with cortical areas implicated in simulation, mentalization, and emotion regulation, and data-driven analysis assessed brain-wide concordance using whole-brain parcellation. Results demonstrated widespread cross-brain synchrony in both the PCN and across the neuroaxis, from primary sensory/somatosensory areas, through insular-cingulate regions, to temporal and prefrontal cortices. The Social context yielded significantly more cross-brain concordance, with PCNs striatum, parahippocampal gyrus, superior temporal sulcus, ACC, and PFC displaying cross-brain synchrony only to mother-infant social cues. Moment-by-moment fluctuations in mother-infant social synchrony, ranging from episodes of low synchrony to tightly coordinated positive bouts, were tracked online by cross-brain concordance in the preregistered ACC. Findings indicate that social attachment stimuli, representing evolutionary-salient universal cues that require no verbal narrative, trigger substantial interbrain concordance and suggest that the mother-infant bond, an icon standing at the heart of human civilization, may function to glue brains into a unified experience and bind humans into social groups.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Infant stimuli elicit widespread neural response in human adults, attesting to their evolutionary significance, but do they also trigger cross-brain concordance and induce neural uniformity among perceivers? We measured cross-brain synchrony to ecological mother-infant videos. We used theory-driven analysis, measuring cross-brain concordance in the parenting network, and data-driven analysis, assessing brain-wide concordance using whole-brain parcellation. Attachment cues triggered widespread cross-brain concordance in both the parenting network and across the neuroaxis. Moment-by-moment fluctuations in behavioral synchrony were tracked online by cross-brain variability in ACC. Attachment reminders bind humans' brains into a unitary experience and stimuli characterized by social synchrony enhance neural similarity among participants, describing one mechanism by which attachment bonds provide the neural template for the consolidation of social groups.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yaara Yeshurun
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel
| | | | - Ayelet Levinkron
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel
| | - Roy Salomon
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
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14
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Schneider I, Fuchs A, Herpertz SC, Lobo FM. Microsocial analysis of dyadic interactions with toddlers and mothers with borderline personality disorder. Arch Womens Ment Health 2023; 26:589-597. [PMID: 37438620 PMCID: PMC10491556 DOI: 10.1007/s00737-023-01346-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is known for disruptions in mother-child interaction, but possible underlying patterns of micro-behavior are barely understood. This is the first study examining behavioral dyadic synchrony-the coordinated and reciprocal adaptation of behavior-and regulation on a micro-level and relating it to macro-behavior in mothers with BPD and their toddlers. Twenty-five mothers with BPD and 29 healthy mothers participated with their 18- to 36-month-old toddlers in a frustration-inducing paradigm. Mother and toddler behavior was continuously micro-coded for gaze, affect, and vocalization. Synchrony, operationalized as the simultaneous engagement in social gaze and positive affect, and (co-)regulative behaviors and their contingencies were analyzed and associated with borderline symptom severity, the overall quality of interaction, and child internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Dyads with mothers with BPD showed significantly less synchrony compared to dyads with healthy mothers. Low synchrony was associated with high BPD symptom severity and low overall interaction quality. Dyads with BPD used the same amount of regulative behaviors as dyads with healthy mothers. Though both groups equally responded to children's negative emotionality, mothers with BPD were less effective in drawing the dyad back into synchrony. For dyads with BPD, regulative behaviors were negatively associated with child externalizing behaviors. BPD symptomology may reduce the effectiveness of mothers' attempts to attune to their child's needs. An emphasis on synchrony and regulative behaviors may be an important therapeutic target for parenting programs in mothers with BPD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabella Schneider
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital, Voßstr. 4, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Anna Fuchs
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital, Blumenstr. 8, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sabine C Herpertz
- Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital, Voßstr. 4, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Frances M Lobo
- Department of Psychology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 294 Eberhart Building, Greensboro, NC, 27402, USA
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15
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Burenkova OV, Dolgorukova TA, An I, Kustova TA, Podturkin AA, Shurdova EM, Talantseva OI, Zhukova MA, Grigorenko EL. Endogenous oxytocin and human social interactions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 2023; 149:549-579. [PMID: 38713749 PMCID: PMC11077008 DOI: 10.1037/bul0000402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
While there has been an increase in studies investigating the relationship between endogenous oxytocin (OXT) concentrations and human social interactions over the past decades, these studies still seem far from converging, both in methodological terms and in terms of their results. This systematic review and meta-analysis were aimed at a comprehensive evaluation and synthesis of empirical evidence on the relationship between endogenous OXT concentrations and human social interactions by reviewing studies published between 1970 and July 2020 and addressing various related methodological and analytical limitations. Sixty-three studies were included in the qualitative synthesis, and results from 51 studies were pooled in a meta-analysis (n = 3,741 participants). The results indicated that social interaction did not lead to an expected hormonal response in causal designs, either in a pre-post design (g = 0.079) or when comparing experimental conditions with and without social interaction (g = 0.256). However, in correlational designs, the overall mean effect size (ES) of the correlations between indicators of social interaction and OXT concentrations was significantly different from zero (z = 0.137). In both designs, subgroup analyses revealed that studies involving either parent-child interactions, or the utilization of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method for OXT analysis, or unrestricted eating, drinking, or exercise before biofluid collection showed significantly higher than zero mean ESs. This review exposes the observed inconsistencies and suggests that standardized, replicable, and reliable approaches to assessing social interaction and measuring OXT concentrations need to be developed to study neurochemical mechanisms of sociality in humans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga V. Burenkova
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston
- Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics (TIMES), University of Houston
- Department of Psychology, Saint-Petersburg State University
| | | | - Iuliia An
- Department of Psychology, Saint-Petersburg State University
| | - Tatiana A. Kustova
- Center for Cognitive Sciences, Sirius University of Science and Technology
| | | | | | | | - Marina A. Zhukova
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston
- Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics (TIMES), University of Houston
- Department of Psychology, Saint-Petersburg State University
- Center for Cognitive Sciences, Sirius University of Science and Technology
| | - Elena L. Grigorenko
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston
- Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics (TIMES), University of Houston
- Department of Psychology, Saint-Petersburg State University
- Center for Cognitive Sciences, Sirius University of Science and Technology
- Departments of Molecular and Human Genetics and Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine
- Child Study Center, Yale University
- Haskins Laboratories, Yale University
- Research Administration, Moscow State University for Psychology and Education
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16
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Carollo A, Montefalcone P, Bornstein MH, Esposito G. A Scientometric Review of Infant Cry and Caregiver Responsiveness: Literature Trends and Research Gaps over 60 Years of Developmental Study. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1042. [PMID: 37371273 DOI: 10.3390/children10061042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 05/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Infant cry is an adaptive signal of distress that elicits timely and mostly appropriate caring behaviors. Caregivers are typically able to decode the meaning of the cry and respond appropriately, but maladaptive caregiver responses are common and, in the worst cases, can lead to harmful events. To tackle the importance of studying cry patterns and caregivers' responses, this review aims to identify key documents and thematic trends in the literature as well as existing research gaps. To do so, we conducted a scientometric review of 723 documents downloaded from Scopus and performed a document co-citation analysis. The most impactful publication was authored by Barr in 1990, which describes typical developmental patterns of infant cry. Six major research thematic clusters emerged from the analysis of the literature. Clusters were renamed "Neonatal Pain Analyzer" (average year of publication = 2002), "Abusive Head Trauma" (average year of publication = 2007), "Oxytocin" (average year of publication = 2009), "Antecedents of Maternal Sensitivity" (average year of publication = 2010), "Neurobiology of Parental Responses" (average year of publication = 2011), and "Hormonal Changes & Cry Responsiveness" (average year of publication = 2016). Research clusters are discussed on the basis of a qualitative inspection of the manuscripts. Current trends in research focus on the neurobiology of caregiver responses and the identification of factors promoting maternal sensitivity. Recent studies have also developed evidence-based strategies for calming crying babies and preventing caregivers' maladaptive responses. From the clusters, two topics conspicuously call for future research: fathers' responsiveness to infant cry and the impact of caregiver relationship quality on cry responsiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Carollo
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Corso Angelo Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
| | - Pietro Montefalcone
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Corso Angelo Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
| | - Marc H Bornstein
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- United Nations Children's Fund, New York, NY 10017, USA
- Institute for Fiscal Studies, London WC1E 7AE, UK
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Corso Angelo Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
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17
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Abargil M, Irani M, Klein Selle N, Atzil S. Breastfeeding at Any Cost? Adverse Effects of Breastfeeding Pain on Mother-Infant Behavior. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12050636. [PMID: 37237450 DOI: 10.3390/biology12050636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Breast milk is considered the ideal infant nutrition, and medical organizations encourage breastfeeding worldwide. Moreover, breastfeeding is often perceived as a natural and spontaneous socio-biological process and one of the fundamental roles of new mothers. While breastfeeding is beneficial, little scientific consideration has been given to its potential psychological challenges. Here, we investigate the phenomenon of breastfeeding pain in mothers and its association with maternal and infant behavioral regulation. During the postpartum weeks, the mother-infant dyad can be considered one allostatic unit directed at infant regulation and development. We hypothesize that pain comprises an allostatic challenge for mothers and will thus impair the capacity for dyadic regulation. To test this, we recruited 71 mothers with varying levels of breastfeeding pain and videotaped them with their infants (2-35 weeks old) during spontaneous face-to-face interactions. We quantified the individual differences in dyadic regulation by behaviorally coding the second-by-second affective expressions for each mother and infant throughout their interactions. We tested the extent to which breastfeeding pain alters affect regulation during mother-infant interactions. We discovered that mothers with severe breastfeeding pain express less affective expressions and less infant-directed gaze during interactive moments of engagement and play than mothers with no or moderate pain. Moreover, infants of mothers experiencing pain during breastfeeding express less affective expressions and more mother-directed gaze while interacting with their mothers than infants of mothers who are not in pain. This demonstrates that the allostatic challenge of maternal pain interferes with the behavioral regulation of both mothers and infants. Since the mother-infant dyad is a codependent allostatic unit, the allostatic challenges of one partner can impact the dyad and thus potentially impact child development, bonding, and mother and infant well-being. The challenges of breastfeeding should be considered in addition to the nutritional advances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maayan Abargil
- The Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
| | - Merav Irani
- The Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
| | | | - Shir Atzil
- The Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
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18
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Abu Salih M, Abargil M, Badarneh S, Klein Selle N, Irani M, Atzil S. Evidence for cultural differences in affect during mother-infant interactions. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4831. [PMID: 36964204 PMCID: PMC10039016 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31907-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Maternal care is considered a universal and even cross-species set of typical behaviors, which are necessary to determine the social development of children. In humans, most research on mother-infant bonding is based on Western cultures and conducted in European and American countries. Thus, it is still unknown which aspects of mother-infant behaviors are universal and which vary with culture. Here we test whether typical mother-infant behaviors of affect-communication and affect-regulation are equally represented during spontaneous interaction in Palestinian-Arab and Jewish cultures. 30 Palestinian-Arab and 43 Jewish mother-infant dyads were recruited and videotaped. Using AffectRegulation Coding System (ARCS), we behaviorally analyzed the second-by-second display of valence and arousal in each participant and calculated the dynamic patterns of affect co-regulation. The results show that Palestinian-Arab infants express more positive valence than Jewish infants and that Palestinian-Arab mothers express higher arousal compared to Jewish mothers. Moreover, we found culturally-distinct strategies to regulate the infant: increased arousal in Palestinian-Arab dyads and increased mutual affective match in Jewish dyads. Such cross-cultural differences in affect indicate that basic features of emotion that are often considered universal are differentially represented in different cultures. Affect communication and regulation patterns can be transmitted across generations in early-life socialization with caregivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miada Abu Salih
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Maayan Abargil
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Saja Badarneh
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel
| | | | - Merav Irani
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Shir Atzil
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel.
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19
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Orchard ER, Voigt K, Chopra S, Thapa T, Ward PGD, Egan GF, Jamadar SD. The maternal brain is more flexible and responsive at rest: effective connectivity of the parental caregiving network in postpartum mothers. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4719. [PMID: 36959247 PMCID: PMC10036465 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31696-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The field of neuroscience has largely overlooked the impact of motherhood on brain function outside the context of responses to infant stimuli. Here, we apply spectral dynamic causal modelling (spDCM) to resting-state fMRI data to investigate differences in brain function between a group of 40 first-time mothers at 1-year postpartum and 39 age- and education-matched women who have never been pregnant. Using spDCM, we investigate the directionality (top-down vs. bottom-up) and valence (inhibition vs excitation) of functional connections between six key left hemisphere brain regions implicated in motherhood: the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens. We show a selective modulation of inhibitory pathways related to differences between (1) mothers and non-mothers, (2) the interactions between group and cognitive performance and (3) group and social cognition, and (4) differences related to maternal caregiving behaviour. Across analyses, we show consistent disinhibition between cognitive and affective regions suggesting more efficient, flexible, and responsive behaviour, subserving cognitive performance, social cognition, and maternal caregiving. Together our results support the interpretation of these key regions as constituting a parental caregiving network. The nucleus accumbens and the parahippocampal gyrus emerging as 'hub' regions of this network, highlighting the global importance of the affective limbic network for maternal caregiving, social cognition, and cognitive performance in the postpartum period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edwina R Orchard
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Katharina Voigt
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Sidhant Chopra
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Tribikram Thapa
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Phillip G D Ward
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Gary F Egan
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Sharna D Jamadar
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia.
- Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia.
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Melbourne, Australia.
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20
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Dadario NB, Tanglay O, Stafford JF, Davis EJ, Young IM, Fonseka RD, Briggs RG, Yeung JT, Teo C, Sughrue ME. Topology of the lateral visual system: The fundus of the superior temporal sulcus and parietal area H connect nonvisual cerebrum to the lateral occipital lobe. Brain Behav 2023; 13:e2945. [PMID: 36912573 PMCID: PMC10097165 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Mapping the topology of the visual system is critical for understanding how complex cognitive processes like reading can occur. We aim to describe the connectivity of the visual system to understand how the cerebrum accesses visual information in the lateral occipital lobe. METHODS Using meta-analytic software focused on task-based functional MRI studies, an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) of the visual network was created. Regions of interest corresponding to the cortical parcellation scheme previously published under the Human Connectome Project were co-registered onto the ALE to identify the hub-like regions of the visual network. Diffusion Spectrum Imaging-based fiber tractography was performed to determine the structural connectivity of these regions with extraoccipital cortices. RESULTS The fundus of the superior temporal sulcus (FST) and parietal area H (PH) were identified as hub-like regions for the visual network. FST and PH demonstrated several areas of coactivation beyond the occipital lobe and visual network. Furthermore, these parcellations were highly interconnected with other cortical regions throughout extraoccipital cortices related to their nonvisual functional roles. A cortical model demonstrating connections to these hub-like areas was created. CONCLUSIONS FST and PH are two hub-like areas that demonstrate extensive functional coactivation and structural connections to nonvisual cerebrum. Their structural interconnectedness with language cortices along with the abnormal activation of areas commonly located in the temporo-occipital region in dyslexic individuals suggests possible important roles of FST and PH in the integration of information related to language and reading. Future studies should refine our model by examining the functional roles of these hub areas and their clinical significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas B Dadario
- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Onur Tanglay
- Omniscient Neurotechnology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jordan F Stafford
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | | | | | - R Dineth Fonseka
- Centre for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, Prince of Wales Private Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Robert G Briggs
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | | | - Charles Teo
- Cingulum Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Michael E Sughrue
- Omniscient Neurotechnology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Cingulum Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Centre for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, Prince of Wales Private Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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21
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McParlin Z, Cerritelli F, Manzotti A, Friston KJ, Esteves JE. Therapeutic touch and therapeutic alliance in pediatric care and neonatology: An active inference framework. Front Pediatr 2023; 11:961075. [PMID: 36923275 PMCID: PMC10009260 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2023.961075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Therapeutic affective touch has been recognized as essential for survival, nurturing supportive interpersonal interactions, accelerating recovery-including reducing hospitalisations, and promoting overall health and building robust therapeutic alliances. Through the lens of active inference, we present an integrative model, combining therapeutic touch and communication, to achieve biobehavioural synchrony. This model speaks to how the brain develops a generative model required for recovery, developing successful therapeutic alliances, and regulating allostasis within paediatric manual therapy. We apply active inference to explain the neurophysiological and behavioural mechanisms that underwrite the development and maintenance of synchronous relationships through touch. This paper foregrounds the crucial role of therapeutic touch in developing a solid therapeutic alliance, the clinical effectiveness of paediatric care, and triadic synchrony between health care practitioner, caregiver, and infant in a variety of clinical situations. We start by providing a brief overview of the significance and clinical role of touch in the development of social interactions in infants; facilitating a positive therapeutic alliance and restoring homeostasis through touch to allow a more efficient process of allostatic regulation. Moreover, we explain the role of CT tactile afferents in achieving positive clinical outcomes and updating prior beliefs. We then discuss how touch is implemented in treatment sessions to promote cooperative interactions in the clinic and facilitate theory of mind. This underwrites biobehavioural synchrony, epistemic trust, empathy, and the resolution of uncertainty. The ensuing framework is underpinned by a critical application of the active inference framework to the fields of pediatrics and neonatology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe McParlin
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Francesco Cerritelli
- Division of Neonatology, “V. Buzzi” Children's Hospital, ASST-FBF-Sacco, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Manzotti
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Division of Neonatology, “V. Buzzi” Children's Hospital, ASST-FBF-Sacco, Milan, Italy
- Research Department, SOMA, Istituto Osteopatia Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jorge E Esteves
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Malta ICOM Educational, Malta, Finland
- Research Department, University College of Osteopathy, Research Department, London, United Kingdom
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22
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Horowitz-Kraus T, Gashri C. Multimodal Approach for Characterizing the Quality of Parent-Child Interaction: A Single Synchronization Source May Not Tell the Whole Story. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12020241. [PMID: 36829518 PMCID: PMC9952901 DOI: 10.3390/biology12020241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The interaction between the parent and child is essential for the child's cognitive and emotional development and sets the path for future well-being. These interactions, starting from birth, are necessary for providing the sensory stimulation the child needs in the critical time window of brain development. The characterization of parent-child interactions is traditionally performed by human decoding. This approach is considered the leading and most accurate way of characterizing the quality of these interactions. However, the development of computational tools and especially the concept of parent-child synchronization opened up an additional source of data characterizing these interactions in an objective, less human-labor manner. Such sources include brain-to-brain, voice/speech, eye contact, motor, and heart-rate synchronization. However, can a single source synchronization dataset accurately represent parent-child interaction? Will attending to the same stimulation, often resulting in a higher brain-to-brain synchronization, be considered an interactive condition? In this perspective, we will try to convey a new concept of the child-parent interaction synchronization (CHIPS) matrix, which includes the different sources of signals generated during an interaction. Such a model may assist in explaining the source of interaction alterations in the case of child/parent developmental/emotional or sensory deficits and may open up new ways of assessing interventions and changes in parent-child interactions along development. We will discuss this interaction during one of the parent-child joint activities providing opportunities for interaction, i.e., storytelling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus
- Educational Neuroimaging Group, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion, Haifa 3200003, Israel
- Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion, Haifa 3200003, Israel
- Neuropsychology Department, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +972-522-989298
| | - Carmel Gashri
- Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion, Haifa 3200003, Israel
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23
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Russo C, Senese VP. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy is a useful tool for multi-perspective psychobiological study of neurophysiological correlates of parenting behaviour. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 57:258-284. [PMID: 36485015 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The quality of the relationship between caregiver and child has long-term effects on the cognitive and socio-emotional development of children. A process involved in human parenting is the bio-behavioural synchrony that occurs between the partners in the relationship during interaction. Through interaction, bio-behavioural synchronicity allows the adaptation of the physiological systems of the parent to those of the child and promotes the positive development and modelling of the child's social brain. The role of bio-behavioural synchrony in building social bonds could be investigated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). In this paper we have (a) highlighted the importance of the quality of the caregiver-child relationship for the child's cognitive and socio-emotional development, as well as the relevance of infantile stimuli in the activation of parenting behaviour; (b) discussed the tools used in the study of the neurophysiological substrates of the parental response; (c) proposed fNIRS as a particularly suitable tool for the study of parental responses; and (d) underlined the need for a multi-systemic psychobiological approach to understand the mechanisms that regulate caregiver-child interactions and their bio-behavioural synchrony. We propose to adopt a multi-system psychobiological approach to the study of parental behaviour and social interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmela Russo
- Psychometric Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Paolo Senese
- Psychometric Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
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Grinberg D, Levin-Asher B, Segal O. The Myth of Women's Advantage in Using Child-Directed Speech: Evidence of Women Versus Men in Single-Sex-Parent Families. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2022; 65:4205-4227. [PMID: 36327494 DOI: 10.1044/2022_jslhr-21-00558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Differences between child-directed speech (CDS) by women and men are generally explained by either biological-evolutionary or gender-social theories. It is difficult to tease these two explanations apart for different-sex-parent families because women are usually also the main caregivers. Thus, this study aims to examine the influence of parental sex on CDS by investigating men and women who are in same-sex-parent families. METHOD Twenty same-sex-parent families participated in the study-10 families in which the parents were two men and 10 families in which the parents were two women. The families were matched for toddler age (range: 9-24 months) and sex. CDS was recorded using the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) device for 16 hr during a day. Each parent was also audio-recorded during a 30-min play session with his or her child. RESULTS No difference was found between men and women across all the LENA measures, namely, adult word count, conversational turns count, and child vocalization count. The analysis of speech samples during parent-child play showed no difference between men and women in mean length of utterance and number of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Pragmatic speech acts of initiations, responses to infants' actions, or vocalizations were similar in both sexes. Women used more "teaching" utterances than men, and men who were main caregivers used more "teaching" utterances than men who were secondary caregivers. Across both sexes, secondary caregivers used more "requests for actions" compared to main caregivers. CONCLUSIONS The present findings support a functional-social approach and not a biological approach for explaining the use of CDS by men and women. These findings have clinical implications on the involvement of men in early intervention programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana Grinberg
- Department of Communication Disorders, Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
| | - Bonnie Levin-Asher
- Department of Communication Disorders, Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
| | - Osnat Segal
- Department of Communication Disorders, Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
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25
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Abstract
Importance The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted an unprecedented need to rapidly investigate the potential consequences for maternal mental health, infant and child development, and the mother-infant relationship. Observations Globally, the mental health of pregnant and postpartum individuals has worsened during the pandemic regardless of infection status, and these concerning changes have disproportionally affected racial and ethnic minoritized people from underserved populations. Early indicators of infant neurobehavioral outcomes suggest that while in utero exposure to a maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection is likely negligible, limited data are available regarding the neurodevelopmental consequences for the generation of infants born during the pandemic. High maternal depression and grief during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with lower levels of self-reported maternal-infant bonding. Yet nearly all published reports of child neurodevelopmental outcomes and dyadic functioning in the context of the pandemic rely on self-reported and parent-reported measures, which are subject to bias. Conclusions and Relevance In the context of prior research, and considering the paucity of research on infant neurodevelopment following prenatal SARS-CoV-2 exposure and birth during the pandemic, robust scientific investigation is needed to detect indicators of compromised early outcomes that could inform widespread assessment and accessible intervention. We simultaneously caution against reflexive apprehension regarding the generation of children born during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan R Firestein
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York
| | - Dani Dumitriu
- Division of Developmental Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York
- Division of Child and Adolescent Health, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian, New York
| | - Rachel Marsh
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
| | - Catherine Monk
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York
- Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York
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26
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Williams R, Trentini C. Two modes of being together: The levels of intersubjectivity and human relatedness in neuroscience and psychoanalytic thinking. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:981366. [PMID: 36158615 PMCID: PMC9494563 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.981366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The notion of intersubjectivity has achieved a primary status in contemporary psychoanalytic debate, stimulating new theoretical proposals as well as controversies. This paper presents an overview of the main contributions on inter-subjectivity in the field of neurosciences. In humans as well as-probably-in other species, the ability for emotional resonance is guaranteed early in development. Based on this capacity, a primary sense of connectedness is established that can be defined inter-subjective in that it entails sharing affective states and intentions with caregivers. We propose to define such a form of inter-subjectivity as contingent, since the infant's early abilities for resonance do not imply the more generalized capacity to permanently conceive of the relationship outside the realm of current interactions and the infant-caregiver's mutual correspondence of internal states. This form of connection, hence, results in a self-referential, bodily, and affectively codified, context- and time dependent, like-me experience of interactions. The gradual maturation of brain structures and processes as well as interactive experiences allow proper intersubjectivity exchanges, grounded on new intentional and representational capacities, to evolve. In this more mature form of intersubjectivity, the individual is allowed to conceive of her own psychic space both as distinct and as possibly connected with the other's contents and experience, even in the absence of current behavioral indicators of such correspondence. This multi-layered model of intersubjectivity, which is embraced by current neuroscience research, seems to allow for new interpretations of psychoanalytic models of human relatedness based upon classic clinical observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Williams
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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27
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Scalabrini A, Mucci C, Northoff G. The nested hierarchy of self and its trauma: In search for a synchronic dynamic and topographical re-organization. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:980353. [PMID: 36118976 PMCID: PMC9478193 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.980353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The sense of self has always been a topic of high interest in both psychoanalysis and most recently in neuroscience. Nowadays, there is an agreement in psychoanalysis that the self emerges from the relationship with the other (e.g., the caregiver) in terms of his/her capacity to attune, regulate, and synchronize with the emergent self of the infant. The outcome of this relational/intersubjective synchronization is the development of the sense of self and its regulatory processes both in dynamic psychology and neuroscience. In this work, we propose that synchrony is a fundamental biobehavioral factor in these dialectical processes between self and others which shapes the brain-body-mind system of the individuals, including their sense of self. Recently in neuroscience, it has been proposed by the research group around Northoff that the self is constituted by a brain-based nested hierarchical three-layer structure, including interoceptive, proprio-exteroceptive, and mental layers of self. This may be disrupted, though, when traumatic experiences occur. Following the three levels of trauma theorized by Mucci, we here suggest how different levels of traumatic experiences might have an enduring effect in yielding a trauma-based topographic and dynamic re-organization of the nested model of self featured by dissociation. In conclusion, we propose that different levels and degrees of traumatic experience are related to corresponding disruptions in the topography and dynamic of the brain-based three-layer hierarchical structure of the self.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Scalabrini
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
| | - Clara Mucci
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
| | - Georg Northoff
- Faculty of Medicine, Centre for Neural Dynamics, The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research, Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Mental Health Centre, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
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28
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Golds L, Gillespie‐Smith K, Nimbley E, MacBeth A. What factors influence dyadic synchrony? A systematic review of the literature on predictors of mother-infant dyadic processes of shared behavior and affect. Infant Ment Health J 2022; 43:808-830. [PMID: 35913364 PMCID: PMC9540815 DOI: 10.1002/imhj.22011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Dyadic behavioral synchrony is a complex interactional process that takes place between the mother and her infant. In the first year of life, when the infant is prelinguistic, processes such as synchrony enable the dyad to communicate through shared behavior and affect. To date, no systematic review has been carried out to understand the risk and protective factors that influence behavioral synchrony in the mother-infant dyad. The aim of this review was to identify and evaluate the factors that influence behavioral synchrony in the mother-infant dyad, when the infant is between 3 and 9 months old. Key electronic databases were searched between 1970 and April 2021, and 28 eligible studies were identified for review. As the results were largely heterogeneous, four subgroups of factors were identified: (i) infant demographics, (ii) physiological factors, (iii) maternal mental health, and (iv) miscellaneous factors. Identified risk factors and covariates suggest that social determinants of health, underpinned by biological factors, play a large role in influencing behavioral synchrony within the dyad. Implications for the need to identify additional risk and protective factors, as well as design support for at-risk families are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Golds
- School of Health in Social ScienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
| | | | - Emy Nimbley
- School of Health in Social ScienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
| | - Angus MacBeth
- School of Health in Social ScienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
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29
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Trait coping styles and the maternal neural and behavioral sensitivity to an infant. Sci Rep 2022; 12:14373. [PMID: 35999360 PMCID: PMC9399102 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18339-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
During the postpartum period, new mothers experience drastic changes in their body, brain, and life circumstances. Stress from the emotional and physical demands of caring for an infant is associated with negative mood and parenting outcomes. The use of active coping strategies can increase mothers’ resilience during the postpartum period. However, little is known about the association between coping styles and maternal brain responses to infant cues. In the current study, we examined the associations among trait coping style, maternal brain responses, and behavioral sensitivity in a socioeconomically diverse sample of first-time mothers (N = 59). The use of more active trait coping strategies compared to passive coping strategies was associated with increased brain responses to infant cry sounds in brain regions that are critically involved in motivation and emotion regulation—substantia nigra, anterior cingulate gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus. Increased brain activations in the midbrain and anterior cingulate gyrus were further associated with higher levels of maternal sensitivity observed during interactions with the infant. Thus, the findings provide support for mothers’ use of more active coping styles to promote neural and behavioral resilience for a positive transition to parenthood.
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30
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Karimova ED, Gulyaeva AS, Katermin NS. The degree of mu rhythm suppression in women is associated with presence of children as well as empathy and anxiety level. Soc Neurosci 2022; 17:382-396. [PMID: 35950700 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2022.2112753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
In experiments on observing and performing social gestures, the level of mu rhythm suppression is associated with the activity of the mirror neuron system (MNS), which is responsible for the perception and understanding of nonverbal signals in social communication. In turn, while MNS activity may be associated primarily with empathy, it is also associated with other psychological and demographic factors affecting the effectiveness of cortical neural networks.In this study, we verified the influence of empathy, state and trait anxiety levels, presence and number of children, age, and menstrual cycle phase on the mu-suppression level in 40 women. We used 32-channel EEG recorded during observation, and synchronous execution of various hand movements. The ICA infomax method was used for decomposing and selecting the left hemisphere component of the mu-rhythm.Mu-suppression was higher in women with one child, with higher levels of empathy, and with lower anxiety levels. It is possible that MNS activity is stronger in women during parental care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina D Karimova
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS (IHNA&NPh RAS), Moscow, Russia
| | - Alena S Gulyaeva
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS (IHNA&NPh RAS), Moscow, Russia
| | - Nikita S Katermin
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS (IHNA&NPh RAS), Moscow, Russia
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31
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Wever MCM, van Houtum LAEM, Janssen LHC, Wentholt WGM, Spruit IM, Tollenaar MS, Will GJ, Elzinga BM. Neural and Affective Responses to Prolonged Eye Contact with One's Own Adolescent Child and Unfamiliar Others. Neuroimage 2022; 260:119463. [PMID: 35830902 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Eye contact is crucial for the formation and maintenance of social relationships, and plays a key role in facilitating a strong parent-child bond. However, the precise neural and affective mechanisms through which eye contact impacts on parent-child relationships remain elusive. We introduce a task to assess parents' neural and affective responses to prolonged direct and averted gaze coming from their own child, and an unfamiliar child and adult. While in the scanner, 79 parents (n = 44 mothers and n = 35 fathers) were presented with prolonged (16-38 s) videos of their own child, an unfamiliar child, an unfamiliar adult, and themselves (i.e., targets), facing the camera with a direct or an averted gaze. We measured BOLD-responses, tracked parents' eye movements during the videos, and asked them to report on their mood and feelings of connectedness with the targets after each video. Parents reported improved mood and increased feelings of connectedness after prolonged exposure to direct versus averted gaze and these effects were amplified for unfamiliar targets compared to their own child, due to high affect and connectedness ratings after videos of their own child. Neuroimaging results showed that the sight of one's own child was associated with increased activity in middle occipital gyrus, fusiform gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus relative to seeing an unfamiliar child or adult. While we found no robust evidence of specific neural correlates of eye contact (i.e., contrast direct > averted gaze), an exploratory parametric analysis showed that dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) activity increased linearly with duration of eye contact (collapsed across all "other" targets). Eye contact-related dmPFC activity correlated positively with increases in feelings of connectedness, suggesting that this region may drive feelings of connectedness during prolonged eye contact with others. These results underline the importance of prolonged eye contact for affiliative processes and provide first insights into its neural correlates. This may pave the way for new research in individuals or pairs in whom affiliative processes are disrupted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam C M Wever
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Lisanne A E M van Houtum
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Loes H C Janssen
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Wilma G M Wentholt
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Iris M Spruit
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Marieke S Tollenaar
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Geert-Jan Will
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Bernet M Elzinga
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands
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32
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Raghunath BL, Sng KHL, Chen SHA, Vijayaragavan V, Gulyás B, Setoh P, Esposito G. Stronger brain activation for own baby but similar activation toward babies of own and different ethnicities in parents living in a multicultural environment. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10988. [PMID: 35768627 PMCID: PMC9243063 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15289-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Specific facial features in infants automatically elicit attention, affection, and nurturing behaviour of adults, known as the baby schema effect. There is also an innate tendency to categorize people into in-group and out-group members based on salient features such as ethnicity. Societies are becoming increasingly multi-cultural and multi-ethnic, and there are limited investigations into the underlying neural mechanism of the baby schema effect in a multi-ethnic context. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine parents' (N = 27) neural responses to (a) non-own ethnic in-group and out-group infants, (b) non-own in-group and own infants, and (c) non-own out-group and own infants. Parents showed similar brain activations, regardless of ethnicity and kinship, in regions associated with attention, reward processing, empathy, memory, goal-directed action planning, and social cognition. The same regions were activated to a higher degree when viewing the parents' own infant. These findings contribute further understanding to the dynamics of baby schema effect in an increasingly interconnected social world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bindiya Lakshmi Raghunath
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Kelly Hwee Leng Sng
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - S H Annabel Chen
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Office of Educational Research, National Institute of Education, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Vimalan Vijayaragavan
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Balázs Gulyás
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Peipei Setoh
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
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33
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Shih HC, Kuo ME, Wu CW, Chao YP, Huang HW, Huang CM. The Neurobiological Basis of Love: A Meta-Analysis of Human Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Maternal and Passionate Love. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12070830. [PMID: 35884637 PMCID: PMC9313376 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12070830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Maternal and passionate love are both crucial for reproduction and involve attachment behaviors with high rewards. Neurobiological studies of attachment in animal and human neuroimaging studies have suggested that the coordination of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic pathways, coupled with the dopaminergic reward system, contribute to the formation and maintenance of maternal and passionate love. In the present study, we carried out a quantitative meta-analysis of human neuroimaging to identify common and dissociable neural substrates associated with maternal and passionate love, using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. The ALE results showed significant activation of the brain regions in the left ventral tegmental area (VTA), right thalamus, left substantia nigra, and the left putamen for maternal love, but in the bilateral VTA for passionate love. The meta-analytic neuroimaging evidence suggests the greater involvement of cognitive–affective regulation in maternal attachment and the greater desire to combine liking and wanting in romantic love behaviors. The conjunction analysis highlights the functional convergence of the VTA across the two types of human love, indicating a shared neurobiological mechanism of maternal and passionate love with evolutionary roots. Our findings suggest that the processing of both maternal and passionate love involve the affective and motivational regulation associated with dopaminergic systems; our neuroimaging evidence supports the notion that maternal and passionate love share a common evolutionary origin and neurobiological basis in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsuan-Chu Shih
- Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan; (H.-C.S.); (M.-E.K.)
- Center for Intelligent Drug Systems and Smart Bio-Devices (IDS2B), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan
| | - Mu-En Kuo
- Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan; (H.-C.S.); (M.-E.K.)
- Center for Intelligent Drug Systems and Smart Bio-Devices (IDS2B), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan
| | - Changwei W. Wu
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 106052, Taiwan;
| | - Yi-Ping Chao
- Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan;
| | - Hsu-Wen Huang
- Department of Linguistics and Translation, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;
| | - Chih-Mao Huang
- Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan; (H.-C.S.); (M.-E.K.)
- Center for Intelligent Drug Systems and Smart Bio-Devices (IDS2B), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan
- Institute of Brain Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei 112304, Taiwan
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +886-3571-2121
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Capistrano CG, Grande LA, McRae K, Phan KL, Kim P. Maternal socioeconomic disadvantage, neural function during volitional emotion regulation, and parenting. Soc Neurosci 2022; 17:276-292. [PMID: 35620995 PMCID: PMC10829500 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2022.2082521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2018] [Revised: 03/27/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The transition to becoming a mother involves numerous emotional challenges, and the ability to effectively keep negative emotions in check is critical for parenting. Evidence suggests that experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage interferes with parenting adaptations and alters neural processes related to emotion regulation. The present study examined whether socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with diminished neural activation while mothers engaged in volitional (i.e., purposeful) emotion regulation. 59 mothers, at an average of 4 months postpartum, underwent fMRI scanning and completed the Emotion Regulation Task (ERT). When asked to regulate emotions using reappraisal (i.e., Reappraise condition; reframing stimuli in order to decrease negative emotion), mothers with lower income-to-needs ratio exhibited dampened neural activation in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC, middle frontal and middle temporal gyrus, and caudate. Without explicit instructions to down-regulate (i.e., Maintain condition), mothers experiencing lower income also exhibited dampened response in regulatory areas, including the middle frontal and middle temporal gyrus and caudate. Blunted middle frontal gyrus activation across both Reappraise and Maintain conditions was associated with reduced maternal sensitivity during a mother-child interaction task. Results of the present study demonstrate the influence of socioeconomic disadvantage on prefrontal engagement during emotion regulation, which may have downstream consequences for maternal behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Leah A Grande
- Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Kateri McRae
- Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
| | - K Luan Phan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Pilyoung Kim
- Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
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35
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Caria A, Dall’Ò GM. Functional Neuroimaging of Human Hypothalamus in Socioemotional Behavior: A Systematic Review. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12060707. [PMID: 35741594 PMCID: PMC9221465 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12060707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
There exist extensive animal research and lesion studies in humans demonstrating a tight association between the hypothalamus and socioemotional behavior. However, human neuroimaging literature in this direction is still rather limited. In order to reexamine the functional role of this region in regulating human social behavior, we here provided a synthesis of neuroimaging studies showing hypothalamic activation during affiliative, cooperative interactions, and in relation to ticklish laughter and humor. In addition, studies reporting involvement of the hypothalamus during aggressive and antisocial interactions were also considered. Our systematic review revealed a growing number of investigations demonstrating that the evolutionary conserved hypothalamic neural circuity is involved in multiple and diverse aspects of human socioemotional behavior. On the basis of the observed heterogeneity of hypothalamus-mediated socioemotional responses, we concluded that the hypothalamus might play an extended functional role for species survival and preservation, ranging from exploratory and approaching behaviors promoting social interactions to aggressive and avoidance responses protecting and defending the established social bonds.
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36
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Zeevi L, Irani M, Catana C, Feldman Barrett L, Atzil S. Maternal dopamine encodes affective signals of human infants. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2022; 17:503-509. [PMID: 34750627 PMCID: PMC9071406 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mothers are highly responsive to their offspring. In non-human mammals, mothers secrete dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in response to their pups. Yet, it is still unknown which aspect of the offspring behavior elicits dopaminergic responses in mothers. Here, we tested whether infants' affective signals elicit dopaminergic responses in the NAcc of human mothers. First, we conducted a behavioral analysis on videos of infants' free play and quantified the affective signals infants spontaneously communicated. Then, we presented the same videos to mothers during a magnetic resonance-positron emission tomography scan. We traced the binding of [11C]raclopride to free D2/3-type receptors to assess maternal dopaminergic responses during the infant videos. When mothers observed videos with many infant signals during the scan, they had less [11C]raclopride binding in the right NAcc. Less [11C]raclopride binding indicates that less D2/3 receptors were free, possibly due to increased endogenous dopamine responses to infants' affective signals. We conclude that NAcc D2/3 receptors are involved in maternal responsiveness to affective signals of human infants. D2/3 receptors have been associated with maternal responsiveness in nonhuman animals. This evidence supports a similar mechanism in humans and specifies infant-behaviors that activate the maternal dopaminergic system, with implications for social neuroscience, development and psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lior Zeevi
- Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel
| | - Merav Irani
- Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel
| | - Ciprian Catana
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Shir Atzil
- Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel
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Yuen M, Hall OJ, Masters GA, Nephew BC, Carr C, Leung K, Griffen A, McIntyre L, Byatt N, Moore Simas TA. The Effects of Breastfeeding on Maternal Mental Health: A Systematic Review. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2022; 31:787-807. [PMID: 35442804 DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2021.0504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Breastfeeding has many positive effects on the health of infants and mothers, however, the effect of breastfeeding on maternal mental health is largely unknown. The goal of this systematic review was to (1) synthesize the existing literature on the effects of breastfeeding on maternal mental health, and (2) inform breastfeeding recommendations. Materials and Methods: A literature search was conducted in electronic databases using search terms related to breastfeeding (e.g., breastfeeding, infant feeding practices) and mental health conditions (e.g., mental illness, anxiety, depression), resulting in 1,110 records. After reviewing article titles and abstracts, 339 articles were advanced to full-text review. Fifty-five articles were included in the final analysis. Results: Thirty-six studies reported significant relationships between breastfeeding and maternal mental health outcomes, namely symptoms of postpartum depression and anxiety: 29 found that breastfeeding is associated with fewer mental health symptoms, one found it was associated with more, and six reported a mixed association between breastfeeding and mental health. Five studies found that breastfeeding challenges were associated with a higher risk of negative mental health symptoms. Conclusions: Overall, breastfeeding was associated with improved maternal mental health outcomes. However, with challenges or a discordance between breastfeeding expectations and actual experience, breastfeeding was associated with negative mental health outcomes. Breastfeeding recommendations should be individualized to take this into account. Further research, specifically examining the breastfeeding experiences of women who experienced mental health conditions, is warranted to help clinicians better personalize breastfeeding and mental health counseling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan Yuen
- T.H. Chan School of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Olivia J Hall
- T.H. Chan School of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Grace A Masters
- T.H. Chan School of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Catherine Carr
- T.H. Chan School of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Katherine Leung
- T.H. Chan School of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Adrienne Griffen
- Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, Arlington, Virginia, USA
| | | | - Nancy Byatt
- T.H. Chan School of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.,UMass Memorial Health, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Tiffany A Moore Simas
- T.H. Chan School of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.,UMass Memorial Health, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
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38
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Species differences in the effect of oxytocin on maternal behavior: A model incorporating the potential for allomaternal contributions. Front Neuroendocrinol 2022; 65:100996. [PMID: 35429546 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.100996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Oxytocin has historically been linked to processes involved with maternal behavior. However, the relative importance of oxytocin for maternal behavior widely varies among mammalian species, from indispensable to apparently nonessential. This review proposes a new model in which the relative importance of oxytocin for mothering across species is explained by an evolutionary pressure which we term "allomaternal potential", or the degree to which other conspecifics are capable and likely to assist with caregiving. It is notable that in animals where allomaternal potential is high (i.e., many quality helpers are available), oxytocin is decoupled from mothering. However, in animals where allomaternal potential is low (i.e., conspecifics refuse to, or do not provide, quality help), oxytocin is crucial for mothering. We posit that this relationship is a form of kin selection, whereby oxytocin is a signal that leads mothers to preferentially dispense resources to their own young when quality helpers are unlikely.
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Saporta N, Scheele D, Lieberz J, Nevat M, Kanterman A, Hurlemann R, Shamay-Tsoory SG. Altered activation in the action observation system during synchronization in high loneliness individuals. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:385-402. [PMID: 35220424 PMCID: PMC9837608 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Lonely people tend to evaluate social exchanges negatively and to display difficulties in interactions. Interpersonal synchronization is crucial for achieving positive interactions, promoting affinity, closeness, and satisfaction. However, little is known about lonely individuals' ability to synchronize and about their brain activity while synchronizing. Following the screening of 303 participants, we recruited 32 low and 32 high loneliness participants. They were scanned while engaged in movement synchronization, using a novel dyadic interaction paradigm. Results showed that high loneliness individuals exhibited a reduced ability to adapt their movement to their partner's movement. Intriguingly, during movement adaptation periods, high loneliness individuals showed increased activation in the action observation (AO) system, specifically in the inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule. They did not show increased activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, which in the context of synchronization was suggested to be related to gap-monitoring. Based on these findings, we propose a model according to which lonely people may require stronger activation of their AO system for alignment, to compensate for some deficiency in their synchronization ability. Despite this hyperactivation, they still suffer from reduced synchronization capacity. Consequently, synchronization may be a relevant intervention area for the amelioration of loneliness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nira Saporta
- Corresponding author: School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
| | - Dirk Scheele
- Research Section Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany,Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Ammerländer Heerstrasse 114-118, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Jana Lieberz
- Research Section Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany
| | - Michael Nevat
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Alisa Kanterman
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - René Hurlemann
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Ammerländer Heerstrasse 114-118, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Center Neurosensory Science, University of Oldenburg, Ammerländer Heerstrasse 114-118, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Simone G Shamay-Tsoory
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
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40
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McParlin Z, Cerritelli F, Friston KJ, Esteves JE. Therapeutic Alliance as Active Inference: The Role of Therapeutic Touch and Synchrony. Front Psychol 2022; 13:783694. [PMID: 35250723 PMCID: PMC8892201 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.783694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Recognizing and aligning individuals' unique adaptive beliefs or "priors" through cooperative communication is critical to establishing a therapeutic relationship and alliance. Using active inference, we present an empirical integrative account of the biobehavioral mechanisms that underwrite therapeutic relationships. A significant mode of establishing cooperative alliances-and potential synchrony relationships-is through ostensive cues generated by repetitive coupling during dynamic touch. Established models speak to the unique role of affectionate touch in developing communication, interpersonal interactions, and a wide variety of therapeutic benefits for patients of all ages; both neurophysiologically and behaviorally. The purpose of this article is to argue for the importance of therapeutic touch in establishing a therapeutic alliance and, ultimately, synchrony between practitioner and patient. We briefly overview the importance and role of therapeutic alliance in prosocial and clinical interactions. We then discuss how cooperative communication and mental state alignment-in intentional communication-are accomplished using active inference. We argue that alignment through active inference facilitates synchrony and communication. The ensuing account is extended to include the role of (C-) tactile afferents in realizing the beneficial effect of therapeutic synchrony. We conclude by proposing a method for synchronizing the effects of touch using the concept of active inference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe McParlin
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Francesco Cerritelli
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Karl J. Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jorge E. Esteves
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Malta ICOM Educational Ltd., Gzira, Malta
- Research Department, University College of Osteopathy, London, United Kingdom
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41
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Doba K, Pezard L, Nandrino JL. How do maternal emotional regulation difficulties modulate the mother-infant behavioral synchrony? INFANCY 2022; 27:582-608. [PMID: 35170196 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Revised: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Mother-infant synchrony is one of the most important processes in the development of socio-affective competencies in children. While maternal abilities and psychopathology are related to maladaptive mother-infant synchrony, it is as yet unclear how maternal emotion regulation difficulties contribute to it. Based on a panel of behavioral indicators (i.e., gaze, vocal, and motor), the present study examined mother-infant synchrony at 6 months of age in a modified version of Ainsworth's Strange Situation (n = 72 dyads). Mother-infant interaction sequences were characterized by indicators of complexity (LZ complexity of joint behavioral sequences) and of synchronization quality (cross-recurrence plot quantification). Results showed that mothers' touch was greater in the reunion condition than in the initial condition. Mothers' motor behaviors were associated with the global levels of infants' behavioral involvement in the reunion condition, unlike the symmetrical influence observed between mothers and infants in the initial condition. Results show that maternal anxiety mediates the relationships between mothers' emotion regulation difficulties and gaze, vocal, and motor synchrony between mothers and infants in the initial and reunion conditions. This study emphasizes the central role of maternal emotion regulation difficulties in the establishment of maladaptive synchrony and in the adjustments of maternal physical contacts with infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karyn Doba
- University of Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 -SCALAb, Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France
| | - Laurent Pezard
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS UMR 7291, LNC, Marseille, France
| | - Jean-Louis Nandrino
- University of Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 -SCALAb, Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France
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42
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Social support mediates the influence of cerebellum functional connectivity strength on postpartum depression and postpartum depression with anxiety. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:54. [PMID: 35136017 PMCID: PMC8826948 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01781-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Revised: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Post-Partum Depression (PPD) is the most common health issue impacting emotional well being in women and is often comorbid with anxiety (PPD-A). Previous studies have shown that adequate social support can protect against PPD and PPD-A. However, how the brain connectome is disrupted in PPD and PPD-A and the neural basis underlying the role of social support in PPD and PPD-A remains unclear. The present study aims to explore these issues in patients with PPD and PPD-A. Well-established questionnaires and resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rsfMRI) were performed in 45 PPD, 31 PDD-A patients and 62 Healthy Postnatal Women (HPW). Brain functional integration was measured by analysis of Functional Connectivity Strength (FCS). Association and mediation analyses were performed to investigate relationships between FCS, PPD and PPD-A symptoms and social support. PPD patients showed specifically higher FCS in right parahippocampus, whereas PPD-A patients showed specifically higher FCS in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. In all postpartum women, depression symptoms positively correlated with FCS in left paracentral lobule; depression and anxiety symptoms were negatively correlated with FCS in right cerebellem posterior lobe (CPL), a brain region implicated in supporting social cognition and regulation of emotion. Subsequent mediation analysis revealed that perceived social support mediated the association between right CPL FCS and PPD and PPD-A symptoms. Measurement of FCS in disorder-specific neural circuits offers a potential biomarker to study and measure the efficacy of social support for PPD and PPD-A.
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43
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Horáková A, Němcová H, Mohr P, Sebela A. Structural, functional, and metabolic signatures of postpartum depression: A systematic review. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:1044995. [PMID: 36465313 PMCID: PMC9709336 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1044995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious condition with debilitating consequences for the mother, offspring, and the whole family. The scope of negative outcomes of PPD highlights the need to specify effective diagnostics and treatment which might differ from major depressive disorder (MDD). In order to improve our clinical care, we need to better understand the underlying neuropathological mechanisms of PPD. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of published neuroimaging studies assessing functional, structural, and metabolic correlates of PPD. METHODS Relevant papers were identified using a search code for English-written studies in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases published by March 2022. Included were studies with structural magnetic resonance imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, both resting-state and task-related, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, or positron emission tomography. The findings were analyzed to assess signatures in PPD-diagnosed women compared to healthy controls. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022313794). RESULTS The total of 3,368 references were initially identified. After the removal of duplicates and non-applicable papers, the search yielded 74 full-text studies assessed for eligibility. Of them, 26 met the inclusion criteria and their findings were analyzed and synthesized. The results showed consistent functional, structural, and metabolic changes in the default mode network and the salient network in women with PPD. During emotion-related tasks, PPD was associated with changes in the corticolimbic system activity, especially the amygdala. DISCUSSION This review offers a comprehensive summary of neuroimaging signatures in PPD-diagnosed women. It indicates the brain regions and networks which show functional, structural, and metabolic changes. Our findings offer better understanding of the nature of PPD, which clearly copies some features of MDD, while differs in others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Horáková
- Center of Perinatal Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia.,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Hana Němcová
- Center of Perinatal Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia.,Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Pavel Mohr
- Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.,Clinical Center, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia
| | - Antonin Sebela
- Center of Perinatal Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia.,Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
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44
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Ulmer-Yaniv A, Waidergoren S, Shaked A, Salomon R, Feldman R. Neural Representation of the Parent-Child Attachment from Infancy to Adulthood. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 17:609-624. [PMID: 34893911 PMCID: PMC9250301 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Attachment theory is built on the assumption of consistency; the mother–infant bond is thought to underpin the life-long representations individuals construct of attachment relationships. Still, consistency in the individual’s neural response to attachment-related stimuli representing his or her entire relational history has not been investigated. Mothers and children were followed across two decades and videotaped in infancy (3–6 months), childhood (9–12 years) and young adulthood (18–24 years). In adulthood, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while exposed to videos of own mother–child interactions (Self) vs unfamiliar interactions (Other). Self-stimuli elicited greater activations across preregistered nodes of the human attachment network, including thalamus-to-brainstem, amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula and temporal cortex. Critically, self-stimuli were age-invariant in most regions of interest despite large variability in social behavior, and Bayesian analysis showed strong evidence for lack of age-related differences. Psycho–physiological interaction analysis indicated that self-stimuli elicited tighter connectivity between ACC and anterior insula, consolidating an interface associating information from exteroceptive and interceptive sources to sustain attachment representations. Child social engagement behavior was individually stable from infancy to adulthood and linked with greater ACC and insula response to self-stimuli. Findings demonstrate overlap in circuits sustaining parental and child attachment and accord with perspectives on the continuity of attachment across human development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adi Ulmer-Yaniv
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya 4610101, Israel
- Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Shani Waidergoren
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya 4610101, Israel
| | - Ariel Shaked
- Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Roy Salomon
- Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Ruth Feldman
- Correspondence should be addressed to Ruth Feldman Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, 8 Ha'Universita st., Herzliya 4610101, Israel. E-mail:
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45
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Mother-Adolescent Neural Concordance in Response to Distress is Related to Greater Mother-Adolescent Concordance of Perceived Adolescent Anxiety. JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS REPORTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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46
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King LS, Salo VC, Kujawa A, Humphreys KL. Advancing the RDoC initiative through the assessment of caregiver social processes. Dev Psychopathol 2021; 33:1648-1664. [PMID: 34311802 PMCID: PMC8792111 DOI: 10.1017/s095457942100064x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The relationships infants and young children have with their caregivers are fundamental to their survival and well-being. Theorists and researchers across disciplines have attempted to describe and assess the variation in these relationships, leading to a general acceptance that caregiving is critical to understanding child functioning, including developmental psychopathology. At the same time, we lack consensus on how to assess these fundamental relationships. In the present paper, we first review research documenting the importance of the caregiver-child relationship in understanding environmental risk for psychopathology. Second, we propose that the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative provides a useful framework for extending the study of children's risk for psychopathology by assessing their caregivers' social processes. Third, we describe the units of analysis for caregiver social processes, documenting how the specific subconstructs in the domain of social processes are relevant to the goal of enhancing knowledge of developmental psychopathology. Lastly, we highlight how past research can inform new directions in the study of caregiving and the parent-child relationship through this innovative extension of the RDoC initiative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy S King
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Virginia C Salo
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Autumn Kujawa
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Kathryn L Humphreys
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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47
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Johnson EA, Portillo A, Bennett NE, Gray PB. Exploring women's oxytocin responses to interactions with their pet cats. PeerJ 2021; 9:e12393. [PMID: 34824911 PMCID: PMC8592048 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Extensive research has evaluated the involvement of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) in human social behaviors, including parent-infant relationships. Studies have investigated OT’s connection to human attachment to nonhuman animals, with the majority of the literature focusing on domestic dogs (Canis lupis familiaris). Utilizing what is known about OT and its role in maternal-infant and human-dog bonding, we apply these frameworks to the study of human-domestic cat (Felis catus) interactions. Methods We investigated changes in salivary OT levels in 30 U.S. women of reproductive age before and after two conditions: reading a book (control) and interacting with their pet cat. Participant and cat behavioral patterns during the cat interaction condition were also quantified to determine if differences in women’s OT concentrations were associated with specific human and cat behaviors. Results Our results revealed no changes in women’s OT levels during the cat interaction, relative to the control condition, and pre-cat interaction OT levels. However, differences in women’s OT concentrations were correlated with some human-cat interactions (e.g., positively with petting cat and cat approach initiation, negatively with cat agonistic behavior) but not all observed behaviors (e.g., use of gentle or baby voice) coded during human-cat interactions. Discussion This study is the first to explore women’s OT in response to interactions with their pet cat and has identified distinct human and cat behaviors that influence OT release in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Johnson
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States of America
| | - Arianna Portillo
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States of America
| | - Nikki E Bennett
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States of America
| | - Peter B Gray
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States of America
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48
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Reese SE, Conradt E, Riquino MR, Garland EL. An Integrated Mechanistic Model of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Opioid-Exposed Mother-Infant Dyads. Front Psychol 2021; 12:688359. [PMID: 34777086 PMCID: PMC8582323 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.688359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing body of neurobiological and psychological research sheds light on the mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of opioid use disorder and its relation to parenting behavior. Perinatal opioid use is associated with risks for women and children, including increased risk of child maltreatment. Drawing from extant data, here we provide an integrated mechanistic model of perinatal opioid use, parenting behavior, infant attachment, and child well-being to inform the development and adaptation of behavioral interventions for opioid-exposed mother-infant dyads. The model posits that recurrent perinatal opioid use may lead to increased stress sensitivity and reward dysregulation for some mothers, resulting in decreased perceived salience of infant cues, disengaged parenting behavior, disrupted infant attachment, and decreased child well-being. We conclude with a discussion of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement as a means of addressing mechanisms undergirding perinatal opioid use, parenting, and attachment, presenting evidence on the efficacy and therapeutic mechanisms of mindfulness. As perinatal opioid use increases in the United States, empirically informed models can be used to guide treatment development research and address this growing concern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E. Reese
- School of Social Work, College of Health, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, United States
| | - Elisabeth Conradt
- Child Adaptation and Neurodevelopment Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Michael R. Riquino
- School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States
| | - Eric L. Garland
- Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development, College of Social Work, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
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49
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Barrett AMY, Mudiam KR, Fisher PA. The Value of Mechanistic Experiments to Target the Shared Neural Circuitry of Parenting and Addiction: The Potential for Video Feedback Interventions. Front Psychol 2021; 12:703948. [PMID: 34671289 PMCID: PMC8520908 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Certain neural processes that underlie addiction are also central to parenting, notably stress and reward. Parenting interventions that incorporate the unique context of caregivers with addiction have demonstrated some success: However, real-world implementation of evidence-based interventions can be difficult with this population. Video feedback interventions are an especially promising approach to reach parents who experience barriers to participation, particularly caregivers with addiction. A translational neuroscientific approach to elucidating the mechanisms of change in these interventions will aid the delivery and success of this method and advance theory surrounding parenting in the context of addiction. Along these lines, we provide an example of one video feedback intervention, Filming Interactions to Nurture Development, that will serve as such a mechanistic experiment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kavya R Mudiam
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States
| | - Philip A Fisher
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States
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Horstman LI, Riem MME, Alyousefi-van Dijk K, Lotz AM, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ. Fathers' Involvement in Early Childcare is Associated with Amygdala Resting-State Connectivity. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 17:198-205. [PMID: 34651177 PMCID: PMC8847902 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Becoming a parent requires new skills and frequent task switching during daily childcare. Little is known about the paternal brain during the transition to fatherhood. The present study examined intrinsic neuronal network connectivity in a group of first-time expectant and new fathers (total N = 131) using amygdala seed-based resting-state functional connectivity analysis. Furthermore, we examined the association between paternal involvement (i.e. hours spent in childcare and real-time push notifications on smartphone) and connectivity within the parental brain network in new fathers. There were no significant differences in functional connectivity between expectant and new fathers. However, results show that in new fathers, time spent in childcare was positively related to amygdala connectivity with the supramarginal gyrus, postcentral gyrus and the superior parietal lobule—all regions within the cognition/mentalizing network that have been associated with empathy and social cognition. Our results suggest that fathers’ time investment in childcare is related to connectivity networks in the parental brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa I Horstman
- Clinical Child & Family Studies, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Madelon M E Riem
- Clinical Child & Family Studies, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.,Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, The Netherlands
| | - Kim Alyousefi-van Dijk
- Clinical Child & Family Studies, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Anna M Lotz
- Clinical Child & Family Studies, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg
- Clinical Child & Family Studies, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
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