Cited by 61Infant Health and DevelopmentNeuroscience and Music PerceptionNeuroendocrine regulation and behavior

Regional brain responses in nulliparous women to emotional infant stimuli

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Montoya, Jessica L., Landi, Nicole, Kober, Hedy, Worhunsky, Patrick D., Rutherford, Helena J. V., Mencl, W. Einar, Mayes, Linda C., Potenza, Marc N.·2012·PLoS ONE

Abstract

Infant cries and facial expressions influence social interactions and elicit caretaking behaviors from adults. Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that neural responses to infant stimuli involve brain regions that process rewards. However, these studies have yet to investigate individual differences in tendencies to engage or withdraw from motivationally relevant stimuli. To investigate this, we used event-related fMRI to scan 17 nulliparous women. Participants were presented with novel infant cries of two distress levels (low and high) and unknown infant faces of varying affect (happy, sad, and neutral) in a randomized, counter-balanced order. Brain activation was subsequently correlated with scores on the Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System scale. Infant cries activated bilateral superior and middle temporal gyri (STG and MTG) and precentral and postcentral gyri. Activation was greater in bilateral temporal cortices for low- relative to high-distress cries. Happy relative to neutral faces activated the ventral striatum, caudate, ventromedial prefrontal, and orbitofrontal cortices. Sad versus neutral faces activated the precuneus, cuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex, and behavioral activation drive correlated with occipital cortical activations in this contrast. Behavioral inhibition correlated with activation in the right STG for high- and low-distress cries relative to pink noise. Behavioral drive correlated inversely with putamen, caudate, and thalamic activations for the comparison of high-distress cries to pink noise. Reward-responsiveness correlated with activation in the left precentral gyrus during the perception of low-distress cries relative to pink noise. Our findings indicate that infant cry stimuli elicit activations in areas implicated in auditory processing and social cognition. Happy infant faces may be encoded as rewarding, whereas sad faces activate regions associated with empathic processing. Differences in motivational tendencies may modulate neural responses to infant cues.

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  1. [2]Bowlby J 1969 Attachment and loss, volume 1: Attachment. London Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis 401
  2. [13]Swain JE Leckman JF Mayes LC Feldman R Constable RT 2003 The neural circuitry of human parent-infant attachment in the early postpartum. Proceedings of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 42nd Annual Meeting 114 192
  3. [16]Swain JE Lorberbaum JP 2008 Imaging the parental brain. Bridges RS Neurobiology of the parental brain: San Diego: Elsevier 83 110

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Authors
Montoya, J. L., Landi, N., Kober, H., Worhunsky, P. D., Rutherford, H. J. V., Mencl, W. E., Mayes, L. C., & Potenza, M. N.
Affiliations
  • Yale University (US)
  • Haskins Laboratories (US)
Corresponding author
Potenza, Marc N.
Venue
PLoS ONE
Published
2012-05-10
Volume
7
Issue
5
Pages
e36270
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2084954797
Cited by
61
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 1
FWCI
16.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Center for Responsible Gaming
  • Psyadon Pharmaceuticals
  • Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance (UL1 RR024139)
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA026437, K12 DA00167, P01DA022446, K12DA000167)
  • National Center for Research Resources (CTSA Grant Number UL1 RR024139, RR024139, UL1RR024139)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Keywords
infant crying, infant facial expressions, nulliparous women, behavioral inhibition system, behavioral activation system, reward processing, social cognition, auditory processing, individual differences in motivation, ventral striatum, superior temporal gyrus, caudate nucleus, thalamus, occipital cortex
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Infant, Parity, Expressed Emotion

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