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Cited by 71Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorPrenatal Substance Exposure EffectsNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Mothers with substance addictions show reduced reward responses when viewing their own infant's face

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Kim, Sohye, Iyengar, Udita, Mayes, Linda C., Potenza, Marc N., Rutherford, Helena J. V., Strathearn, Lane·2017·Human Brain Mapping
DOI 10.1002/hbm.23731PMC PMC5763911
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Abstract

Maternal addiction constitutes a major public health problem affecting children, with high rates of abuse, neglect, and foster care placement. However, little is known about the ways in which substance addiction alters brain function related to maternal behavior. Prior studies have shown that infant face cues activate similar dopamine‐associated brain reward regions to substances of abuse. Here, we report on a functional MRI study documenting that mothers with addictions demonstrate reduced activation of reward regions when shown reward‐related cues of their own infants. Thirty‐six mothers receiving inpatient treatment for substance addiction were scanned at 6 months postpartum, while viewing happy and sad face images of their own infant compared to those of a matched unknown infant. When viewing happy face images of their own infant, mothers with addictions showed a striking pattern of decreased activation in dopamine‐ and oxytocin‐innervated brain regions, including the hypothalamus, ventral striatum, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex—regions in which increased activation has previously been observed in mothers without addictions. Our results are the first to demonstrate that mothers with addictions show reduced activation in key reward regions of the brain in response to their own infant's face cues. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5421–5439, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Authors
Kim, S., Iyengar, U., Mayes, L. C., Potenza, M. N., Rutherford, H. J. V., & Strathearn, L.
Affiliations
  • Baylor College of Medicine (US)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • Yale University (US)
  • University of Iowa (US)
Corresponding author
  • Kim, Sohye
  • Strathearn, Lane
ORCID
Venue
Human Brain Mapping
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-07-26
Volume
38
Issue
11
Pages
5421-5439
ISSN
  • 1065-9471 (ISSN-L)
  • 1097-0193
DOI
10.1002/hbm.23731
PMC
PMC5763911
OpenAlex
W2737104823
Cited by
71
References
15
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 5
FWCI
9.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Human Brain Mapping (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01 DA026437, R01 DA06025, R01 DA02446)
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD065819, K23 HD43097, R03 HD080998)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
infant face processing, reward response, dopamine, oxytocin, hypothalamus, ventral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, postpartum women, maternal behavior
MeSH terms
Facial Recognition, Adult, Affect, Brain, Brain Mapping, Facial Expression, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Infant, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Mother-Child Relations, Mothers, Reward, Substance-Related Disorders, Postpartum Period, Young Adult

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