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Zhang K, Du X, Liu X, Su W, Sun Z, Wang M, Du X. Gender differences in brain response to infant emotional faces. BMC Neurosci 2022; 23:79. [PMID: 36575370 PMCID: PMC9793562 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-022-00761-5] [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: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Infant emotional stimuli can preferentially engage adults' attention and provide valuable information essential for successful interaction between adults and infants. Exploring the neural processes of recognizing infant stimuli promotes better understandings of the mother-infant attachment mechanisms. Here, combining task-functional magnetic resonance imaging (Task-fMRI) and resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), we investigated the effects of infants' faces on the brain activity of adults. Two groups including 26 women and 25 men were recruited to participate in the current study. During the task-fMRI, subjects were exposed to images of infant emotional faces (including happy, neutral, and sad) randomly. We found that the brains of women and men reacted differently to infants' faces, and these differential areas are in facial processing, attention, and empathetic networks. The rs-fMRI further showed that the connectivity of the default-mode network-related regions increased in women than in men. Additionally, brain activations in regions related to emotional networks were associated with the empathetic abilities of women. These differences in women might facilitate them to more effective and quick adjustments in behaviors and emotions during the nurturing infant period. The findings provide special implications and insights for understanding the neural processing of reacting to infant cues in adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaihua Zhang
- grid.410585.d0000 0001 0495 1805School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250358 Shandong China
| | - Xiaoyu Du
- grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XFaculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010 Australia
| | - Xianling Liu
- grid.411634.50000 0004 0632 4559Department of Medicine Imaging, The People’s Hospital of Jinan Central District, Jinan, 250014 Shandong China
| | - Wei Su
- grid.410585.d0000 0001 0495 1805School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250358 Shandong China
| | - Zhenhua Sun
- grid.410747.10000 0004 1763 3680School of Information Science and Engineering, Linyi University, Linyi, 276000 Shandong China
| | - Mengxing Wang
- grid.507037.60000 0004 1764 1277College of Medical Imaging, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, 201318 China
| | - Xiaoxia Du
- grid.412543.50000 0001 0033 4148Department of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, No.399 Shanghai Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200438 China
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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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Plank IS, Hindi Attar C, Kunas SL, Dziobek I, Bermpohl F. Motherhood and theory of mind: increased activation in the posterior cingulate cortex and insulae. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2022; 17:470-481. [PMID: 34592763 PMCID: PMC9071419 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite growing evidence on effects of parenthood on social understanding, little is known about the influence of parenthood on theory of mind (ToM), the capacity to infer mental and affective states of others. It is also unclear whether any possible effects of parenthood on ToM would generalise to inferring states of adults or are specific to children. We investigated neural activation in mothers and women without children while they predicted action intentions from child and adult faces. Region-of-interest analyses showed stronger activation in mothers in the bilateral posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus (ToM-related areas) and insulae (emotion-related areas). Whole-brain analyses revealed that mothers compared to non-mothers more strongly activated areas including the left angular gyrus and the ventral prefrontal cortex but less strongly activated the right supramarginal gyrus and the dorsal prefrontal cortex. These differences were not specific to child stimuli but occurred in response to both adult and child stimuli and might indicate that mothers and non-mothers employ different strategies to infer action intentions from affective faces. Whether these general differences in affective ToM between mothers and non-mothers are due to biological or experience-related changes should be subject of further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Sophia Plank
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10099, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10099, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences | CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Catherine Hindi Attar
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences | CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Stefanie Lydia Kunas
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences | CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10099, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10099, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Felix Bermpohl
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10099, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences | CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
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Plank IS, Hindi Attar C, Kunas SL, Bermpohl F, Dziobek I. Increased child‐evoked activation in the precuneus during facial affect recognition in mothers. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:2911-2922. [PMID: 35278010 PMCID: PMC9120561 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Successful parenting requires constant inferring of affective states. Especially vital is the correct identification of facial affect. Previous studies have shown that infant faces are processed preferentially compared to adult faces both on the behavioural and the neural level. This study specifically investigates the child‐evoked neural responses to affective faces and their modulation by motherhood and attention to affect. To do so, we used a paradigm to measure neural responses during both explicit and implicit facial affect recognition (FAR) in mothers and non‐mothers using child and adult faces. Increased activation to child compared to adult faces was found for mothers and non‐mothers in face processing areas (bilateral fusiform gyri) and areas associated with social understanding (bilateral insulae and medial superior frontal gyrus) when pooling implicit and explicit affect recognition. Furthermore, this child‐evoked activation was modulated by motherhood with an increase in mothers compared to non‐mothers in the left precuneus. Additionally, explicitly recognising the affect increased child‐evoked activation in the medial superior frontal gyrus in both mothers and non‐mothers. These results suggest preferential treatment of affective child over adult faces, modulated by motherhood and attention to affect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Sophia Plank
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Life Sciences Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany
- Faculty of Philosophy, Berlin School of Mind and Brain Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences CCM 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
| | - Catherine Hindi Attar
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences CCM Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Stefanie Lydia Kunas
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences CCM Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Felix Bermpohl
- Faculty of Philosophy, Berlin School of Mind and Brain Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences CCM 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
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Life Sciences Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany
- Faculty of Philosophy, 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
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Endendijk JJ, Smit AK, van Baar AL, Bos PA. What a cute baby! Preliminary evidence from a fMRI study for the association between mothers' neural responses to infant faces and activation of the parental care system. Neuropsychologia 2020; 143:107493. [PMID: 32407904 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2019] [Revised: 05/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Infant facial characteristics, i.e., baby schema, are thought to automatically elicit parenting behavior and affective orientation toward infants. Only a few studies, conducted in non-parents, have directly examined the neural underpinnings of this baby schema effect by manipulating distinctiveness of baby schema in infant faces. This study aims to further our understanding of the intuitive nature of parenting, by studying the baby schema effect in mothers of young children (at least one child aged between 2 and 6 years old). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine mothers' (N = 23) neural responses to unfamiliar infant faces varying in distinctiveness of baby schema. Also, it was studied how this neural activation to infant faces was associated with maternal nurturance. Results revealed that infant faces elicited widespread activation in bilateral visual cortices, the hippocampus, sensory-motor areas, parietal and frontal cortices, and the insula, which was not modulated by the distinctiveness of baby schema in the infant faces. Furthermore, higher self-reported maternal nurturance was related to increased neural responses to infant faces in the putamen and amygdala, brain regions known to be associated with reward and salience processing. These findings could suggest that in our small sample of mothers some of the core networks involved in reward and salience processing might be less sensitive to variation in distinctiveness of baby schema. Also, unfamiliar infant faces seem to be rewarding only for mothers who report high nurturance. These findings should be considered preliminary, because they need to be replicated in studies with larger samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joyce J Endendijk
- Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3548, CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Anne K Smit
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Anneloes L van Baar
- Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3548, CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Peter A Bos
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3548, CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333, AK Leiden, the Netherlands
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Limbic-visual attenuation to crying faces underlies neglectful mothering. Sci Rep 2019; 9:6373. [PMID: 31011201 PMCID: PMC6476884 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-42908-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 04/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Neglectful mothering is one of the most common forms of childhood maltreatment, involving a severe disregard of the child's needs, yet little is known about its neural substrate. A child's needs are usually conveyed by signals of distress revealed by crying faces. We tested whether infant and adult crying faces are processed differently in two sociodemographically similar groups of Neglectful (NM) and non-neglectful Control Mothers (CM). We used functional brain imaging to analyze the BOLD response from 43 mothers (23 neglectful and 20 control) while viewing faces from infants and adults (crying and neutral). In NM as compared to CM, the BOLD responses to both infant and adult crying faces were significantly reduced in the cerebellum, lingual, fusiform, amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampus, and inferior frontal gyrus. The reduced BOLD was also modulated by comorbid psychiatric symptoms. In the CM, frontal activation to infant versus adult crying faces was enhanced, whereas in the NM activation in the anterior cingulate cortex to infant crying was reduced compared to adult crying. The altered neural response to crying faces in NM, showing generic face and infant-specific face processing deficits, could underlie their characteristic poor social abilities as well as their poor response to infant needs, both affecting the caregiving role.
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Plusquellec P, Denault V. The 1000 Most Cited Papers on Visible Nonverbal Behavior: A Bibliometric Analysis. JOURNAL OF NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10919-018-0280-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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Ta N, Cheng G, Zhang D, Jia Y, Ding F, Xia M. Women's gender roles affect their visual interest in different infant facial expressions. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Correction: Regional Brain Responses Are Biased Toward Infant Facial Expressions Compared to Adult Facial Expressions in Nulliparous Women. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0175621. [PMID: 28384316 PMCID: PMC5383339 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166860.].
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