Cited by 371Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesInfant Health and Development

Orbitofrontal cortex tracks positive mood in mothers viewing pictures of their newborn infants

Nitschke, Jack B, Nelson, Eric E, Rusch, Brett D, Fox, Andrew S, Oakes, Terrence R, Davidson, Richard J·2004·NeuroImage

Abstract

Positive affect elicited in a mother toward her newborn infant may be one of the most powerful and evolutionarily preserved forms of positive affect in the emotional landscape of human behavior. This study examined the neurobiology of this form of positive emotion and in so doing, sought to overcome the difficulty of eliciting robust positive affect in response to visual stimuli in the physiological laboratory. Six primiparous human mothers with no indications of postpartum depression brought their infants into the laboratory for a photo shoot. Approximately 6 weeks later, they viewed photographs of their infant, another infant, and adult faces during acquisition of functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI). Mothers exhibited bilateral activation of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) while viewing pictures of their own versus unfamiliar infants. While in the scanner, mothers rated their mood more positively for pictures of their own infants than for unfamiliar infants, adults, or at baseline. The orbitofrontal activation correlated positively with pleasant mood ratings. In contrast, areas of visual cortex that also discriminated between own and unfamiliar infants were unrelated to mood ratings. These data implicate the orbitofrontal cortex in a mother's affective responses to her infant, a form of positive emotion that has received scant attention in prior human neurobiological studies. Furthermore, individual variations in orbitofrontal activation to infant stimuli may reflect an important dimension of maternal attachment.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.10.005

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  • Some maternal response studies have failed to show striatal activation.

    “However, some maternal response studies have failed to show striatal activation (20;21), among other important differences.”
  • Orbitofrontal cortex responses to own-baby visual stimuli correlate with ratings of pleasant mood, excitement and love that mothers may experience when viewing the stimuli.

    “Furthermore, orbitofrontal cortex responses to own-baby visual stimuli correlate with ratings of pleasant mood, excitement and love that mothers may experience when viewing the stimuli (19,58).”

    From Neuroendocrinology of Parental Response to Baby‐Cry (2011) · cites this paper as [58]

  • Nitschke et al. (2004) reported OFC activations correlated positively with pleasant mood ratings in six healthy primiparous mothers viewing smiling pictures of own and unfamiliar infants.

    “Nitschke et al. (2004) studied six healthy, primiparous mothers’ brains at 2–4 months postpartum as they viewed smiling pictures of their own and unfamiliar infants. They reported OFC activations that correlated positively with pleasant mood ratings.”

    From The human parental brain: In vivo neuroimaging (2011) · cites this paper as Nitschke et al., 2004

  • Visual cortex areas discriminated between own and unfamiliar infants but were unrelated to mood ratings.

    “In contrast, areas of visual cortex that also discriminated between own and unfamiliar infants were unrelated to mood ratings (Nitschke et al., 2004).”

    From The human parental brain: In vivo neuroimaging (2011) · cites this paper as Nitschke et al., 2004

  • Areas of visual cortex that discriminated between own and unfamiliar infants were unrelated to mood ratings (Nitschke et al., 2004).

    “In contrast, areas of visual cortex that also discriminated between own and unfamiliar infants were unrelated to mood ratings (Nitschke et al., 2004).”

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Authors
Nitschke, J. B., Nelson, E. E., Rusch, B. D., Fox, A. S., Oakes, T. R., & Davidson, R. J.
Affiliations
  • University of Wisconsin System (US)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (US)
Corresponding author
Nitschke, Jack B
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2004-02
Volume
21
Issue
2
Pages
583-592
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2009124912
Cited by
371
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 22
FWCI
24.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01mh040747-14, 5k05mh000875-10)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH18931, P50-MH 52354, P50MH052354, MH40747, MH 43454, K05-MH 00875, K08MH063984, K08-MH63984, T32MH018931)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
Keywords
orbitofrontal cortex, positive affect, maternal attachment, mother-infant relationship, neonates, mood ratings, primiparous women, individual differences, visual cortex, infant face perception
MeSH terms
Adult, Affect, Arousal, Attention, Brain Mapping, Cerebellum, Cerebral Cortex, Face, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Infant, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Maternal Behavior, Mother-Child Relations, Mothers, Occipital Lobe, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Photography, Self-Assessment, Temporal Lobe

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