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Cited by 67Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthDeath Anxiety and Social ExclusionPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

Neural activation underlying acute grief in women after the loss of an unborn child

Kersting, Anette, Ohrmann, Patricia, Pedersen, Anya, Kroker, Kristin, Samberg, Daniela, Bauer, Jochen, Kugel, Harald, Koelkebeck, Katja +4 more·2009·American Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.08121875
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The traumatic loss of an unborn child by induced termination of pregnancy because of fetal malformation is a major life event that causes intense maternal grief. Increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that the same neural structures involved in the experience of physical pain are involved in the experience of social pain and loss. METHOD: To investigate neural activation patterns related to acute grief, the authors conducted a functional MRI study of 12 post-termination women and 12 noninduced women who delivered a healthy child. Brain activation was measured while participants viewed pictures of happy baby, happy adult, and neutral adult faces. RESULTS: Relative to comparison women, post-termination women showed greater activation in the middle and posterior cingulate gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus, the middle temporal gyrus, the thalamus, and the brainstem in response to viewing happy baby faces. Functional connectivity between the cingulate gyrus and the thalamus during the processing of happy baby faces was significantly stronger in post-termination women. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, acute grief after the loss of an unborn child was closely related to the activation of the physical pain network encompassing the cingulate gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus, the thalamus, and the brainstem. To the authors' knowledge, the stronger functional thalamocingulate connectivity in post-termination women is the first in vivo demonstration of an involvement of the neural maternal attachment network in grief after the loss of an unborn child.

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Crossref · 10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.08121875

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  • Acute grief after a relationship breakup or the loss of an unborn child is related to intense responses of the physical pain network encompassing the anterior cingulate cortex and insula.

    “In fact, acute grief after a relationship breakup (128,129) or the loss of an unborn child (130) is related to intense responses of the physical pain network encompassing the ACC and insula.”

    From Dissecting the Role of Oxytocin in the Formation and Loss of Social Relationships (2016) · cites this paper as [130]

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Authors
Kersting, A., Ohrmann, P., Pedersen, A., Kroker, K., Samberg, D., Bauer, J., Kugel, H., Koelkebeck, K., Steinhard, J., Heindel, W., Arolt, V., & Suslow, T.
Affiliations
University of Münster (DE)
ORCID
Venue
American Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Published
2009-12
Volume
166
Issue
12
Pages
1402-1410
ISSN
  • 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-7228
DOI
10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.08121875
OpenAlex
W2166830718
Cited by
67
References
10
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 7
FWCI
6.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld (Universität Bielefeld) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
acute grief, fetal death, fetal malformations, maternal grief, social pain, cingulate gyrus, thalamus, maternal attachment, brain activation
MeSH terms
Abortion, Eugenic, Abortion, Induced, Acute Disease, Adult, Brain, Brain Stem, Facial Expression, Female, Frontal Lobe, Grief, Gyrus Cinguli, Happiness, Humans, Life Change Events, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Maternal Behavior, Neural Pathways, Object Attachment, Pain, Pregnancy, Temporal Lobe, Thalamus

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