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Cited by 38Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorPsychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsInfant Health and Development

Interoception sensitivity in the parental brain during the first months of parenting modulates children’s somatic symptoms six years later: the role of oxytocin

Abraham, Eyal, Hendler, Talma, Zagoory-Sharon, Orna, Feldman, Ruth·2019·International Journal of Psychophysiology
DOI 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.02.001
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Abstract

Interoception, the perception and interpretation of one's own bodily signals, is a key aspect of human caregiving that impacts infant health and well-being across life. Interoception relies on limbic structures, mainly the amygdala, and the agranular visceromotor cortex, particularly the anterior insula (AI), that integrate with the oxytocin (OT) system to support interoceptive sensitivity. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether interoception sensitivity in the parent's brain during the first months of parenting combines with sensitive parenting and OT-system functionality to predict children's somatic symptoms six years later. We followed 45 primary-caregiving first-time mothers and fathers and their infants across the first six years of parenting. In infancy (Time 1), parents' brain response to infant stimuli was imaged, salivary OT measured, and parent-infant interactions coded for parent sensitivity. In preschool (Time 2), parent and child's OT and parent sensitivity were measured again. At six years (Time 3), parents reported on children's somatic symptoms. Greater activation of the parent's AI bilaterally when his/her child was an infant predicted lower child somatic problems at six years. Parent sensitivity partially mediated the links between parental AI activation and child somatic symptoms. In addition, greater parental bilateral amygdala activity predicted higher child OT levels at 3 years and parental OT moderated the relations between preschoolers' OT and later somatic symptoms. Our findings chart two independent cross-generational pathways from interoception sensitivity in the parent's brain and child somatization. The first defines an evolutionary-ancient path including the amygdala and the OT system that support mammalian attention to arousal modulations in response to social cues; the second, via the AI, implicates higher-order interoceptive representations of bodily responses and affective states that underpins human embodiment.

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  • Parent interoception may be associated with child interoception.

    “suggesting that parent interoception may be associated with child interoception (Abraham et al., 2019).”

    From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Abraham et al., 2019

  • Parental anterior insula activation while watching parent-infant interactions predicts their reports of their child's somatic symptoms six years later.

    “parental anterior insula activation while watching video recordings of parent-infant interactions (their child and others’ children) has been found to predict their reports of their child’s somatic symptoms six years later”

    From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Abraham et al., 2019

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Authors
Abraham, E., Hendler, T., Zagoory-Sharon, O., & Feldman, R.
Affiliations
  • Reichman University (IL)
  • Tel Aviv University (IL)
Corresponding author
Feldman, Ruth
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Psychophysiology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-02
Volume
136
Pages
39-48
ISSN
0167-8760 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.02.001
OpenAlex
W2789783059
Cited by
38
References
145
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1
FWCI
5.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Psychophysiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • GIF
  • Simms-Mann Foundation
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
Keywords
interoception, oxytocin, anterior insula, amygdala, parental sensitivity, somatization, parent-infant interaction, salivary oxytocin, embodiment, caregiving, infancy, preschool children
MeSH terms
Medically Unexplained Symptoms, Adult, Amygdala, Cerebral Cortex, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Infant, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Maternal Behavior, Oxytocin, Parent-Child Relations, Paternal Behavior, Saliva, Parenting, Interoception

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