Cited by 262Face Recognition and PerceptionEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorNeuroendocrine regulation and behavior

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A Specific and Rapid Neural Signature for Parental Instinct

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Kringelbach, Morten L., Lehtonen, Annukka, Squire, Sarah, Harvey, Allison G., Craske, Michelle G., Holliday, Ian E., Green, Alexander L., Aziz, Tipu Z., Hansen, Peter C., Cornelissen, Piers L., Stein, Alan·2008·PLoS ONE

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0001664PMC PMC2244707

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Abstract

Darwin originally pointed out that there is something about infants which prompts adults to respond to and care for them, in order to increase individual fitness, i.e. reproductive success, via increased survivorship of one's own offspring. Lorenz proposed that it is the specific structure of the infant face that serves to elicit these parental responses, but the biological basis for this remains elusive. Here, we investigated whether adults show specific brain responses to unfamiliar infant faces compared to adult faces, where the infant and adult faces had been carefully matched across the two groups for emotional valence and arousal, as well as size and luminosity. The faces also matched closely in terms of attractiveness. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in adults, we found that highly specific brain activity occurred within a seventh of a second in response to unfamiliar infant faces but not to adult faces. This activity occurred in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), an area implicated in reward behaviour, suggesting for the first time a neural basis for this vital evolutionary process. We found a peak in activity first in mOFC and then in the right fusiform face area (FFA). In mOFC the first significant peak (p<0.001) in differences in power between infant and adult faces was found at around 130 ms in the 10-15 Hz band. These early differences were not found in the FFA. In contrast, differences in power were found later, at around 165 ms, in a different band (20-25 Hz) in the right FFA, suggesting a feedback effect from mOFC. These findings provide evidence in humans of a potential brain basis for the "innate releasing mechanisms" described by Lorenz for affection and nurturing of young infants. This has potentially important clinical applications in relation to postnatal depression, and could provide opportunities for early identification of families at risk.

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Figure 1 Significant differences between viewing infant and adult faces. The group SAM analysis revealed a significant peak in the medial orbitofrontal cortex in the 10–30 Hz band in the 0–250 ms (first two columns), 100–350 ms (third column) and 200–450 ms (fourth column) windows when participants viewed infant (upper row) and not when they viewed adult faces (lower row). The fifth column shows the integrated z-map over the three time windows (with Z>3.1) with all active brain regions listed in Table 1. In order to see the extent of the spread of activity over the fusiform cortices elicited by faces, the group activity is superimposed on a ventral view of the human brain (with the cerebellum removed).CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 2 Time-frequency analysis of neural activity in medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the right fusiform face area (FFA). Significantly different responses were found in the medial OFC but not in the right FFA between viewing infant compared to adult faces. A) Time-frequency representations of the normalised evoked average group responses to infant and adult faces from the virtual electrodes in the medial OFC reveal that the initial response to infant faces is present in the 12–20 Hz band from around 130 ms-and not present to adult faces. B) The responses in right FFA occurred earlier in time but were not significantly different before 165 ms when viewing infant compared to adult faces. This can be seen from the time-frequency representations of the normalised evoked average group from the virtual electrodes, where initial activity was present from around 100 ms in the 10–20 Hz and in the 25–35 Hz bands. The white stippled line and the orange arrow indicates when the faces were presented in time.CC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 3 Comparing the power changes in activity for infant vs adult faces. Significant differences in power changes in activity were found first in the medial OFC and then in the right FFA. A) In the medial OFC the first significant peak (p<0.001) in differences in power between infant and adult faces in the 10–15 Hz band was found at around 130 ms. These early differences were not found in the FFA. B) In contrast, differences in power were found later, at around 165 ms, in a different band (20–25 Hz) in the right FFA.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Method

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“As infant cues differ from adult cues in how they are processed in the adult brain (Kringelbach et al., 2008), and as oxytocin selectively increases the preference for infants compared to adults (Marsh et al.”
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Social and Affective Neuroscience of Everyday Human Interaction
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Emotional Processing of Infants Displays in Eating Disorders
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Chinese infant facial cues
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Sustained opioid antagonism modulates striatal sensitivity to baby schema in opioid use disorder
Wang, A., Lowen, S. B., Elman, I., Shi, Z., Fairchild, V. P., Bouril, A., Gur, R. C., & Langleben, D. D. (2017) · Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment · doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2017.10.007 · Cited by 15
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Bjertrup, A. J., Jensen, M. B., Schjødt, M. S., Parsons, C. E., Kjærbye‐Thygesen, A., Mikkelsen, R. L., Moszkowicz, M., Frøkjær, V. G., Vinberg, M., Kessing, L. V., et al. (2020) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.10.006 · Cited by 14
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“When responses to infant faces versus adult faces were examined using magnetoencephalography(MEG), e.g. specific brain activity was found to occur in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, which mediates reward processing [5].”
BackgroundMethod
Sensitive infant care tunes a frontotemporal interbrain network in adolescence
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Impact of Emotion on Consciousness: Positive Stimuli Enhance Conscious Reportability
Thomsen, K. R., Lou, H. C., Joensson, M., Hyam, J. A., Holland, P. C., Parsons, C. E., Young, K. S., Møller, A., Stein, A. L., Green, A. L., et al. (2011) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018686 · Cited by 13
“The infant faces used in the task are from a database of digital photographs of infant facial expressions that was produced from digital videotapes of 27 infants (ages 3–12 months) [25].”
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“In the aforementioned editorial by Leckman and March (2011), the authors describe “A complex, dynamic story is unfolding of evolutionarily conserved genetic programs that guide mammalian brain development and how our in utero and our early postnatal interpersonal worlds shape and mold the individuals (infants, childre…”
BackgroundInfluential
Adults’ responses to infant faces: Neutral infant facial expressions elicit the strongest baby schema effect
Jia, Y., Ding, F., Cheng, G., Chen, J., Zhang, W., Lin, N., & Zhang, D. J. (2020) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/1747021820981862 · Cited by 12
“As the baby schema was proposed with the implicit assumption that typical adult physical features could be used as a baseline for comparison, it is necessary to remove the general effect of adult faces to reveal the specific effect of infant faces, as in a series of previous studies (Brosch et al., 2007; Kringelbach e…”
Result
Kindchenschema and cuteness elicit interest in caring for and playing with young children, but less so when children are masked
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“…including: the impact of the baby schema on the mesocorticolimbic system in women (Glocker et al. 2009); the neurological responses behind parental instincts in adults (Kringelbach et al. 2008); responses in the orbitofrontal cortex of women when viewing infants (Nitschke et al. 2004).”
Background
Changing mothers’ perception of infant emotion: a pilot study
Carnegie, R., Shepherd, C., Pearson, R. M., Button, K. S., Munafo, M. R., Evans, J., & Penton‐Voak, I. S. (2015) · Archives of Women s Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s00737-015-0565-5 · Cited by 11
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Background
Limbic-visual attenuation to crying faces underlies neglectful mothering
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“, 2017), tracing “a specific and rapid neural signature for parental instinct” (Kringelbach et al., 2008; Young et al., 2016), including OFC in a network cued to infant faces and voices.”
Background
Mothers’ pupillary responses to infant facial expressions
Yrttiaho, S., Niehaus, D. J. H., Thomas, E., & Leppänen, J. M. (2017) · Behavioral and Brain Functions · doi:10.1186/s12993-017-0120-9 · Cited by 10
Night Shifts: Revisiting Blanket Restrictions on Children’s Overnights With Separated Parents
Warshak, R. A. (2018) · Journal of Divorce & Remarriage · doi:10.1080/10502556.2018.1454193 · Cited by 10
“Moreover, fathers and mothers are equally sensitive toward their infants (Braungart-Rieker, Garwood, Powers, & Notaro, 1998; Cabrera, Shannon, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2010; Kringelbach et al., 2008; Lamb, 1977).”
Background
Gender differences in brain response to infant emotional faces
Zhang, K., Du, X., Liu, X., Su, W., Sun, Z., Wang, M., & Du, X. (2022) · BMC Neuroscience · doi:10.1186/s12868-022-00761-5 · Cited by 10
“The activity of the fusiform gyrus was modulated by individual differences in interest-in-infants [36], and the fusiform gyrus plays an important role in learning, monitoring, and memory of salient reward-related stimuli in the environment [37].”
Background
Does Care Lead to Bonds? Exploring the Relationship Between Human Caregiving for Robots and Human-Robot Bonding
Xu, J., Zhang, C., Cuijpers, R. H., & IJsselsteijn, W. A. (2025) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3706598.3714271 · Cited by 9
Effects of sex and parental status on the assessment of infant faces.
Arteche, A. X., Vivian, F. A., Dalpiaz, B. P. Y., & Salvador-Silva, R. (2016) · Psychology & Neuroscience · doi:10.1037/h0101552 · Cited by 9
Eye Size Affects Cuteness in Different Facial Expressions and Ages
Yao, L., Dai, Q., Wu, Q., Liu, Y., Yu, Y., Guo, T., Zhou, M., Yang, J., Takahashi, S., Ejima, Y., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.674456 · Cited by 10
The impact of alcohol use during pregnancy on maternal responses after birth
Pearson, R. M., Heron, J., Melotti, R., Joinson, C. J., & Evans, J. (2012) · Archives of Women s Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s00737-012-0305-z · Cited by 9
“system also involved in reward processing and approach motivation (Swain et al. 2007a; Bartels and Zeki 2004; Noriuchi et al. 2008; Nitschke et al. 2004; Seifritz et al. 2003; Lorberbaum et al. 2002; Kringelbach et al. 2008).”
Background
Neural reactivity to infant emotion cues during pregnancy: Associations with peripartum anxiety and depressive symptoms
Cárdenas, E. F., Hill, K. E., Estes, E., Jackson, M., Venanzi, L., Humphreys, K. L., & Kujawa, A. (2023) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108673 · Cited by 9
Towards a neural model of bonding in self-attachment
Cittern, D., & Edalat, A. (2015) · International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN) · doi:10.1109/ijcnn.2015.7280548 · Cited by 9
“For example, [13] found activation of the medial OFC (a region implicated in stimulus-reward association) in response to images of unfamiliar infants but not adults.”
Background
Time in the orbitofrontal cortex
Kringelbach, M. L., & Rapuano, K. M. (2016) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/aww049 · Cited by 8
“Previous studies have observed rapid reward-related activity in the OFC ( 130 ms) to salient visual stimuli requiring a fast orienting response, which is often followed by a second, slower wave of activity thought to reflect conscious cognitive processes (Bar et al., 2006; Kringelbach et al., 2008).”
Background
No other race effect (ORE) for infant face recognition: A memory task
Proverbio, A. M., Parietti, N., & Benedetto, F. D. (2020) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107439 · Cited by 8
Glued to Which Face? Attentional Priority Effect of Female Babyface and Male Mature Face
Zheng, W., Luo, T., Chuan-Peng, H., & Peng, K. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00286 · Cited by 8
Sex Differences in Social Cognition
Proverbio, A. M. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-08651-9_6 · Cited by 7
Neural Responses to Infant Emotions and Emotional Self-Awareness in Mothers and Fathers during Pregnancy
Trentini, C., Pagani, M., Lauriola, M., & Tambelli, R. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17093314 · Cited by 9
“Based on this evidence, it has been suggested that mOFC is “a potential brain basis for the ‘innate releasing mechanisms’ described by Lorenz for affection and nurturing of young infants” [18] (p.”
Background
A magnetoencephalography study of first-time mothers listening to infant cries
Høgholt, N. F., Bonetti, L., Stevner, A. B. A., Andersen, C., Hughes, M., Fernandes, H. M., Vuust, P., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2022) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhac469 · Cited by 8
Attentional Prioritization of Infant Faces in Parents: The Influence of Parents’ Experiences of Care
Gemignani, M., Giannotti, M., Schmalz, X., Rigo, P., & de Falco, S. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20010527 · Cited by 7
Ethnic effects when facing children: An ERP study
Spencer, H., Heitland, I., Montoya, E. R., Branje, S., & Bos, P. A. (2018) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.08.015 · Cited by 7
“The effect of baby schema furthermore appears to evoke a very early specific neural response reflecting enhanced attentional processing of infant faces compared to adult faces (Hahn et al., 2016; Jantzen et al., 2017; Kringelbach et al., 2008).”
Background
The Involvement of Parents in the Children’s Care Process; a Comparison of Various Countries
Santoso, M. B. (2018) · EMPATI Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial · doi:10.15408/empati.v7i1.10008 · Cited by 7
How a mother processes her infant's distress: Cognitive pathways to maternal insensitivity
Fuths, S., Seehagen, S., & Schneider, S. (2017) · Mental Health & Prevention · doi:10.1016/j.mhp.2017.03.004 · Cited by 5
“Mothers display striatal, thalamic, orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate activation that are presumed to underlie reward, motivational and approach processes in response to audiotapes of infant distress (Kim et al., 2011; Kringelbach et al., 2008).”
Background
Prenatal affective cognitive training: A proof-of-concept study
Bjertrup, A. J., Petersen, T. H., Beier, N., Kofoed, J., Horgen, I. Å., Kjærbye‐Thygesen, A., Kirkegaard, T., & Miskowiak, K. W. (2023) · Neuroscience Applied · doi:10.1016/j.nsa.2023.101135 · Cited by 6
“The cognitive bias modi ﬁ cation task consisted of grey scale images of 50 emotional infant faces (from Kringelbach, Lehtonen (Kringelbach et al., 2008)) in ﬁ ve different categories (very happy, moderately happy, very distressed, moderately distressed and ambiguous/neutral faces) presented for 2 s…”
The Role of Perception in Age Estimation
Murphy, C. A. (2012) · Lecture notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-35515-8_1 · Cited by 6
“Kringelbach commented on the findings of the study stating, “These responses are almost certainly too fast to be consciously controlled and so are probably instinctive [22].”
Background
Consciousness: a neural capacity for objectivity, especially pronounced in humans
Dijker, A. J. M. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00223 · Cited by 6
Stronger brain activation for own baby but similar activation toward babies of own and different ethnicities in parents living in a multicultural environment
Raghunath, B. L., Leng, K. S. H., Chen, S. H. A., Vijayaragavan, V., Gulyás, B. Z., Setoh, P., & Esposito, G. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-15289-1 · Cited by 5
Cooperation and Competition
Kraft‐Todd, G. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-17125-3_101-1 · Cited by 6
Social interactions between attachment partners increase inter-brain plasticity
Schwartz, L., Lévy, J., Salomonski, C., Peleg, I., Hayut, O., Zagoory‐Sharon, O., & Feldman, R. (2025) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149856 · Cited by 5
On screen experiment showed that becoming a parent for the first time shifted people's priorities from themselves to their infant at 1 year of age
Høgholt, N. F., Buus, S., Fernandes, H. M., Sui, J., Vuust, P., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2022) · Acta Paediatrica · doi:10.1111/apa.16561 · Cited by 5
Functional near‐infrared spectroscopy is a useful tool for multi‐perspective psychobiological study of neurophysiological correlates of parenting behaviour
Russo, C., & Senese, V. P. (2022) · European Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1111/ejn.15890 · Cited by 6
“MEG has been used to study the brain areas involved in the development of infant faces (Kringelbach et al., 2008; Parsons et al., 2013), mother–infant relationship (Hirata et al., 2014) and their cerebral synchrony (Levy et al., 2017), helping to identify the brain areas involved in the parental…”
Method
Construction of face databases for tasks to recognize facial expressions of basic emotions: a systematic review
Fabrício, D. D. M., Ferreira, B. L. C., Maximiano‐Barreto, M. A., Muniz, M., & Chagas, M. H. N. (2022) · Dementia & Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1590/1980-5764-dn-2022-0039 · Cited by 5
The scent of cuteness—neural signatures of infant body odors
Schäfer, L., Koeppel, C. J., Kreßner-Kiel, D., Schwerdtfeger, S., Michael, M. A., Weidner, K., & Croy, I. (2024) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsae038 · Cited by 7
“On a neural level, the perception of visual cuteness is associated with fast and specific responses in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) (Kringelbach et al ., 2008).”
Background
Bebês: o irresistível poder da graciosidade. Um estudo sobre o significado evolutivo dos traços infantis
Leitão, M. B. P., & Castelo‐Branco, R. (2010) · Estudos de Psicologia (Natal) · doi:10.1590/s1413-294x2010000100010 · Cited by 5
Altruistic responses to the most vulnerable involve sensorimotor processes
Vickers, B. D., Seidler, R. D., Stansfield, R. B., Weissman, D. H., & Preston, S. D. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1140986 · Cited by 7
“This circuit is also activated by images of neonates (51, 97, 98) and their cries (99, 100)—particularly OFC, amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and cingulate cortex.”
Background
Robotic Alloparenting: A New Solution to an Old Problem?
McClelland, R. T. (2016) · The Journal of mind and behavior · Cited by 4
Pictures of preterm infants elicit increased affective responses and reduced reward-motivation or perspective taking in the maternal brain
Endendijk, J. J., Bos, P. A., Smit, A. K., & van Baar, A. L. (2020) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112677 · Cited by 4
Limbic Cortex: The Functional Neuroanatomy of Emotion and Hedonic Processing
Kringelbach, M. L. (2015) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6434-1_46-3 · Cited by 4
From Resistance to Readiness
Lopez, A. F., Joy, S., & Kumar, A. A. (2023) · Advances in human resources management and organizational development book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-6684-6567-7.ch011 · Cited by 4
Attachment Reminders Trigger Widespread Synchrony across Multiple Brains
Shimon-Raz, O., Yeshurun, Y., Ulmer-Yaniv, A., Levinkron, A., Salomon, R., & Feldman, R. (2023) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0026-23.2023 · Cited by 7
“…of the young and reminders of the primary attachment, whether stimuli of one ’ s own child or those of a standard infant (Ranote et al., 2004; Kringelbach et al., 2008; Noriuchi et al., 2008; Mascaro et al., 2014), trigger a powerful response in the brains of human adults (Swain, 2011) as…”
Background
RECOGNIZING INFANTS’ EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS: ARE ADOLESCENTS LESS SENSITIVE TO INFANTS’ CUES?
Nießen, A., Konrad, K., Dahmen, B., Herpertz‐Dahlmann, B., & Firk, C. (2017) · Infant Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1002/imhj.21651 · Cited by 4
When Do We Design for Emotion?
van Gorp, T., & Adams, E. (2012) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-386531-1.00003-x · Cited by 4
Babyface Effect: Babyface Preference and Overgeneralization
Dou, D., Xiaocen, L. I. U., & ZHANG, Y. (2014) · Advances in Psychological Science · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1042.2014.00760 · Cited by 4
Neurobiology of Culturally Common Maternal Responses to Infant Cry
Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., Suwalsky, J. T. D., Rigo, P., Esposito, G., Swain, J. E., Su, X., Du, X., Zhang, K., Cote, L. R., et al. (2022) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003167570-19 · Cited by 5
The Prevalence and Potential Problem of Cuteness in Zoomorphic Robots
Voysey, I., Baillie, L., Williams, J. M., & Herrmann, J. M. (2025) · ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction · doi:10.1145/3767724 · Cited by 4
“Cuteness captures attention [15, 67] and influences behaviour [99, 133].”
Who tugs at our heart strings? The effect of avatar images on player generosity in the dictator game
Buchanan, K. E., Rolison, J. J., Jinga, I., Thompson, J., & Russo, R. (2021) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218211050359 · Cited by 3
“In a neuroimaging study, Kringelbach et al. (2008) presented adult participants with photos of faces of unfamiliar adults and infants.”
Background
Kama Muta
Steinnes, K. K., Lyshol, J. K. B., Zickfeld, J., Schubert, T. W., & Seibt, B. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197544754.013.16 · Cited by 3
Relationship status and sex differences in emotion lateralisation: An examination contrasting the processing of emotional infant and adult faces
Bourne, V. J., & Jonauskaitė, D. (2014) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.10.026 · Cited by 3
“Infant chimeric faces were created from infant face stimuli used elsewhere (Kringelbach et al., 2008; Parsons et al., 2011) and had either positively or negatively valenced emotional expressions.”
Background
Deliberate control over facial expressions in motherhood. Evidence from a Stroop-like task
Recio, G., Surdzhiyska, Y., Bagherzadeh‐Azbari, S., Hilpert, P., Rostami, H. N., Xu, Q., & Sommer, W. (2022) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103652 · Cited by 3
Effects of cleft lip on visual scanning and neural processing of infant faces
Hahn, A. C., Riedelsheimer, J. A., Royer, Z., Frederick, J. T., Kee, R., Crimmins, R., Huber, B. R., Harris, D. H., & Jantzen, K. J. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0300673 · Cited by 5
“…observed reduced activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, a critical reward-related region of the parental brain, when adults viewed infants with cleft lip/ palate compared to healthy infants, suggesting that cleft lip/palate may disrupt the neural responses typically associated with caregiving [3].”
Background

Authors: Kringelbach, M. L., Lehtonen, A., Squire, S., Harvey, A. G., Craske, M. G., Holliday, I. E., Green, A. L., Aziz, T. Z., Hansen, P. C., Cornelissen, P. L., & Stein, A.
Affiliations: Aarhus University (DK)
University of Oxford (GB)
University of California, Berkeley (US)
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Aston University (GB)
John Radcliffe Hospital (GB)
University of Birmingham (GB)
University of York (GB)
Corresponding author: Kringelbach, Morten L.
ORCID: Kringelbach, Morten L.
Harvey, Allison G.
Craske, Michelle G.
Green, Alexander L.
Aziz, Tipu Z.
Hansen, Peter C.
Cornelissen, Piers L.
Stein, Alan
Venue: PLoS ONE
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published: 2008-02-27
Volume: 3
Issue: 2
Pages: e1664
ISSN: 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001664
PMC: PMC2244707
OpenAlex: W2123848474
Cited by: 262
References: 47
Citations by year: 2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 16
FWCI: 6.74
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: gold
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (unspecified)
Locations: PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (acceptedVersion)
Aston Publications Explorer (Aston University) (submittedVersion)
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders: Wellcome Trust (017571, 071571)
Lord Dowding Fund
TrygFonden
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Keywords: infant face perception, face processing, medial orbitofrontal cortex, fusiform face area, Lorenz, infant care, reward processing, postpartum depression, magnetoencephalography
MeSH terms: Adult, Brain Mapping, Face, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Magnetoencephalography, Parenting

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A Specific and Rapid Neural Signature for Parental Instinct

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