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Rotondi V, Allegra M, Kashyap R, Barban N, Sironi M, Reverberi C. Enduring maternal brain changes and their role in mediating motherhood's impact on well-being. Sci Rep 2024; 14:16608. [PMID: 39025996 PMCID: PMC11258333 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67316-y] [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: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Parenthood, particularly motherhood, is known to impact the structure and function of the brain in the short term, but the long-term effects of parenthood and their impacts on well-being are still poorly understood. This study explores the potential longer-term associations between parenthood and the brain, parenthood and well-being, and the potential role of brain modifications in influencing mothers' well-being. Using data from the UK Biobank, which includes brain imaging information from individuals aged 45-82 at the MRI scanning, we discovered differences in brain structure between mothers and non-mothers, with mothers exhibiting widely distributed higher gray matter density, particularly strong in frontal and occipital regions. No brain changes were observed in fathers. Parents reported a higher sense of life's meaning compared to their childless counterparts. Gray matter changes did not mediate the relationship between motherhood and well-being. This suggests that the alterations in gray matter associated with motherhood do not play a deterministic role in shaping long-term changes in well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Rotondi
- SUPSI, Lugano, Switzerland.
- University of Oxford & Nuffield College, Oxford, UK.
- Milan Center for Neuroscience - NeuroMI, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
| | | | | | | | | | - Carlo Reverberi
- Milan Center for Neuroscience - NeuroMI, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano - Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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Xie J, Li L, Lu Y, Zhuang J, Wu Y, Li P, Zheng L. Learning from in-group and out-group models induces separative effects on human mate copying. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:nsad051. [PMID: 37757743 PMCID: PMC10547020 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad051] [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: 02/19/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Mate copying is a social learning process in which individuals gather public information about potential mates by observing models' choices. Previous studies have reported that individual attributes of female models affect mate copying, yet little is known about whether and how the group attributes of models influence mate copying. In the current behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, female participants were asked to rate their willingness to choose the depicted males as potential romantic partners before and after observing in-group or out-group female models accepting, rejecting or being undecided (baseline) about the males. Results showed that participants changed their ratings to align with the models' acceptance or rejection choices. Compared to rejection copying, the effect of acceptance copying was stronger and regulated by in- and out-group models, manifesting a discounting copying effect when learning from out-group models. At the neural level, for acceptance copying, stronger temporoparietal junction (TPJ) activity and connectivity between TPJ and anterior medial prefrontal cortex (amPFC) were observed when female models belonged to out-group members; meanwhile, the functional connection of TPJ and amPFC positively predicted the rating changes when learning from out-group models. The results indicated that participants might need more resources to infer out-group members' intentions to overcome the in-group bias during acceptance copying.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiajia Xie
- Department of Psychology, Normal College, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Lin Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Yang Lu
- Fudan Institute on Ageing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
- MOE Laboratory for National Development and Intelligent Governance, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Jinying Zhuang
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Yuyan Wu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Peng Li
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Li Zheng
- Fudan Institute on Ageing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
- MOE Laboratory for National Development and Intelligent Governance, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
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Petrovic SA, Kaurin N, Knezevic J, Maric NP. Theory of Mind in Typical Adults: Sex-Differences and Its Associations with Anxiety and Depression Symptoms. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2023; 38:913-921. [PMID: 36715310 DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acad007] [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] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Despite an increased interest in research of theory of mind (ToM) in recent years - both related to psychopathology (depression and anxiety spectrum disorders) and within the typical adults, the existing literature is scarce and presents some conflicting results. Present study aimed to explore sex differences in ToM, alongside its associations with current anxiety and depression symptoms, in a large sample of typical adults collected online. METHOD Participants completed the 15-minutes survey obtaining socio-demographic data, current self-reported depression and anxiety symptom severity, and ToM ability (the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task). The sample comprised 605 participants -mostly younger adults, women, and high school graduate/student population. RESULTS The majority of participants reported minimal/mild depressive and anxiety symptoms that were significantly more severe in women. Women also displayed significantly better overall ToM ability than men. Significant negative correlation between the severity of current depressive and anxiety symptoms and ToM ability was also observed, but only in individuals expressing the symptoms requiring clinical attention (such association was absent in those exhibiting minimal/mild symptoms). CONCLUSIONS Present research adds to the existing knowledge on the association between ToM ability, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in typical adults as well as on the sex-differences in this important social cognitive domain. Exploring the factors representing indicators of vulnerability for depression-anxiety spectrum disorders is important for their timely detection and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanja Andric Petrovic
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
- Institute of Mental Health, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Nina Kaurin
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Jelena Knezevic
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Nadja P Maric
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
- Institute of Mental Health, Belgrade, Serbia
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Plank IS, Christiansen LN, Kunas SL, Dziobek I, Bermpohl F. Mothers need more information to recognise associated emotions in child facial expressions. Cogn Emot 2022; 36:1299-1312. [PMID: 35930357 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2105819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Parenting requires mothers to read social cues and understand their children. It is particularly important that they recognise their child's emotions to react appropriately, for example, with compassion to sadness or compersion to happiness. Despite this importance, it is unclear how motherhood affects women's ability to recognise emotions associated with facial expressions in children. Using videos of an emotionally neutral face continually and gradually taking on a facial expression associated with an emotion, we quantified the amount of information needed to match the emotion with the facial expression. Mothers needed more information than non-mothers to match the emotions with the facial expressions. Both mothers and non-mothers performed equally on a control task identifying animals instead of emotions, and both groups needed less information when recognising the emotions associated with facial expressions in adolescents than pre-schoolers. These results indicate that mothers need more information for to correctly recognise typically associated emotions in child facial expressions but not for similar tasks not involving emotions. A possible explanation is that child facial expressions associated with emotions may have a greater emotional impact on mothers than non-mothers leading to task interference but possibly also to increased compassion and compersion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene S Plank
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lina-Nel Christiansen
- Center for Chronically Sick Children, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefanie L Kunas
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Felix Bermpohl
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Truong NCD, Wang X, Wanniarachchi H, Lang Y, Nerur S, Chen KY, Liu H. Mapping and understanding of correlated electroencephalogram (EEG) responses to the newsvendor problem. Sci Rep 2022; 12:13800. [PMID: 35963934 PMCID: PMC9376113 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17970-x] [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: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Decision-making is one of the most critical activities of human beings. To better understand the underlying neurocognitive mechanism while making decisions under an economic context, we designed a decision-making paradigm based on the newsvendor problem (NP) with two scenarios: low-profit margins as the more challenging scenario and high-profit margins as the less difficult one. The EEG signals were acquired from healthy humans while subjects were performing the task. We adopted the Correlated Component Analysis (CorrCA) method to identify linear combinations of EEG channels that maximize the correlation across subjects ([Formula: see text]) or trials ([Formula: see text]). The inter-subject or inter-trial correlation values (ISC or ITC) of the first three components were estimated to investigate the modulation of the task difficulty on subjects' EEG signals and respective correlations. We also calculated the alpha- and beta-band power of the projection components obtained by the CorrCA to assess the brain responses across multiple task periods. Finally, the CorrCA forward models, which represent the scalp projections of the brain activities by the maximally correlated components, were further translated into source distributions of underlying cortical activity using the exact Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography Algorithm (eLORETA). Our results revealed strong and significant correlations in EEG signals among multiple subjects and trials during the more difficult decision-making task than the easier one. We also observed that the NP decision-making and feedback tasks desynchronized the normalized alpha and beta powers of the CorrCA components, reflecting the engagement state of subjects. Source localization results furthermore suggested several sources of neural activities during the NP decision-making process, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior PFC, orbitofrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and somatosensory association cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nghi Cong Dung Truong
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, 500 UTA Blvd, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
| | - Xinlong Wang
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, 500 UTA Blvd, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
| | - Hashini Wanniarachchi
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, 500 UTA Blvd, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
| | - Yan Lang
- Information Systems and Operations Management, University of Texas at Arlington, 701 S. Nedderman Drive, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
- Department of Business, State University of New York at Oneonta, 108 Ravine Parkway Oneonta, New York, NY, 13820, USA
| | - Sridhar Nerur
- Information Systems and Operations Management, University of Texas at Arlington, 701 S. Nedderman Drive, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
| | - Kay-Yut Chen
- Information Systems and Operations Management, University of Texas at Arlington, 701 S. Nedderman Drive, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA
| | - Hanli Liu
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, 500 UTA Blvd, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA.
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