A cry in the dark: depressed mothers show reduced neural activation to their own infant’s cry
Open accessAbstract
This study investigated depression-related differences in primiparous mothers' neural response to their own infant's distress cues. Mothers diagnosed with major depressive disorder (n = 11) and comparison mothers with no diagnosable psychopathology (n = 11) were exposed to their own 18-months-old infant's cry sound, as well as unfamiliar infant's cry and control sound, during functional neuroimaging. Depressed mothers' response to own infant cry greater than other sounds was compared to non-depressed mothers' response in the whole brain [false discovery rate (FDR) corrected]. A continuous measure of self-reported depressive symptoms (CESD) was also tested as a predictor of maternal response. Non-depressed mothers activated to their own infant's cry greater than control sound in a distributed network of para/limbic and prefrontal regions, whereas depressed mothers as a group failed to show activation. Non-depressed compared to depressed mothers showed significantly greater striatal (caudate, nucleus accumbens) and medial thalamic activation. Additionally, mothers with lower depressive symptoms activated more strongly in left orbitofrontal, dorsal anterior cingulate and medial superior frontal regions. Non-depressed compared to depressed mothers activated uniquely to own infant greater than other infant cry in occipital fusiform areas. Disturbance of these neural networks involved in emotional response and regulation may help to explain parenting deficits in depressed mothers.
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Activation of the medial and lateral PFC and ACC is consistently observed among new mothers in response to an infant's cry, to videos of a distressed infant, and to one's own child greater than to familiar/unknown faces.
“Activation of the medial and lateral PFC and ACC are consistently observed among new mothers in response to an infant’s cry (Laurent and Ablow, 2012; Lorberbaum et al., 2002), to videos of a distressed infant (Noriuchi et al., 2008), and to one’s own child greater than to familiar/unknown faces (Leibenluft et al., 2004) were observed among new mothers.”
From The maternal brain and its plasticity in humans (2016) · cites this paper as Laurent and Ablow, 2012
In the first study of clinically depressed mothers using own-baby-cry, the brain response was essentially eliminated by depression in a distributed network of paralimbic and prefrontal regions, which displayed an inverse correlation between response and depression severity, including function in prefrontal areas and the striatum.
“Also, very recently and in the first study of clinically depressed mothers using own-baby-cry, the brain response was essentially eliminated by depression in a distributed network of paralimbic and prefrontal regions, which displayed an inverse correlation between response and depression severity, including function in prefrontal areas and the striatum (71).”
From Neuroendocrinology of Parental Response to Baby‐Cry (2011) · cites this paper as [71]
Higher depressive symptoms were associated with decreased activity in the caudate, putamen, nucleus accumbens-medial thalamus, and posterior orbitofrontal cortex.
“and that the higher depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CESD) were associated with decreased activity in caudate, putamen, NA-medial thalamus and posterior OFC.”
From The maternal brain and its plasticity in humans (2016) · cites this paper as Laurent and Ablow, 2012
For own versus control sound, depressed versus non-depressed mothers had less activity in the medial thalamus, caudate, and nucleus accumbens.
“Further, Laurent and colleagues (Laurent and Ablow, 2012) reported, for own vs. control sound, that depressed vs. non-depressed mothers had less activity in the medial thalamus, caudate and NA;”
From The maternal brain and its plasticity in humans (2016) · cites this paper as Laurent and Ablow, 2012
Mothers with postpartum depression show reduced responses to own vs other baby in reward/maternal motivation regions: nucleus accumbens, caudate, and thalamus (Laurent and Ablow, 2012).
“Indeed in first study of baby cry in women who had a postpartum depression, mothers showed reduced responses to own vs. other baby in regions that process reward stimuli and promote maternal motivation -- nucleus accumbens, caudate and thalamus (Laurent and Ablow, 2012).”
From Approaching the biology of human parental attachment: Brain imaging, oxytocin and coordinated assessments of mothers and fathers (2014) · cites this paper as Laurent and Ablow, 2012
More depressive symptoms are associated with less activity in response to own vs other baby cry in OFC, dorsal ACC, and superior frontal gyrus (Laurent and Ablow, 2012).
“More depressive symptoms were also associated with less activity in response to own vs. other baby cry in the OFC, dorsal ACC, and superior frontal gyrus - regions important for emotion information processing and regulation, including valence and salience.”
From Approaching the biology of human parental attachment: Brain imaging, oxytocin and coordinated assessments of mothers and fathers (2014) · cites this paper as Laurent and Ablow, 2012
These results are consistent with those in depression indicating reduced fronto-cortical activity in response to own vs other baby-cry (Laurent and Ablow, 2012).
“These results are consistent with those in depression indicating reduced fronto-cortical activity in response to own vs. other baby-cry (Laurent and Ablow, 2012).”
From Approaching the biology of human parental attachment: Brain imaging, oxytocin and coordinated assessments of mothers and fathers (2014) · cites this paper as Laurent and Ablow, 2012
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- Authors
- Laurent, H. K., & Ablow, J. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Wyoming (US)
- Venue
- Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2011-01-05
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 125-134
- ISSN
- 1749-5016 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-5024
- PMC
- PMC3277361
- OpenAlex
- W2155882641
- Cited by
- 224
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 8.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0643393)
- University of Oregon
- National Institutes of Health (5f32mh083462-02)
- National Institute of Mental Health (F32 MH083462, F32MH083462-02)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- maternal depression, major depressive disorder, infant crying, striatal activation, caudate nucleus, nucleus accumbens, medial thalamus, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, fusiform cortex, emotion regulation, primiparous women
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Crying, Depression, Depressive Disorder, Major, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Mother-Child Relations, Mothers, Parenting, Functional Neuroimaging
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