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Hoegholt NF, Bonetti L, Stevner ABA, Andersen CE, Hughes M, Fernandes HM, Vuust P, Kringelbach ML. A magnetoencephalography study of first-time mothers listening to infant cries. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:5896-5905. [PMID: 36460612 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Revised: 11/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Studies using magnetoencephalography (MEG) have identified the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) to be an important early hub for a “parental instinct” in the brain. This complements the finding from functional magnetic resonance imaging studies linking reward, emotion regulation, empathy, and mentalization networks to the “parental brain.” Here, we used MEG in 43 first-time mothers listening to infant and adult cry vocalizations to investigate the link with mother–infant postpartum bonding scores and their level of sleep deprivation (assessed using both actigraphy and sleep logs). When comparing brain responses to infant versus adult cry vocalizations, we found significant differences at around 800–1,000 ms after stimuli onset in the primary auditory cortex, superior temporal gyrus, hippocampal areas, insula, precuneus supramarginal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and posterior cingulate gyrus. Importantly, mothers with weaker bonding scores showed decreased brain responses to infant cries in the auditory cortex, middle and superior temporal gyrus, OFC, hippocampal areas, supramarginal gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus at around 100–300 ms after the stimulus onset. In contrast, we did not find correlations with sleep deprivation scores. The significant decreases in brain processing of an infant’s distress signals could potentially be a novel signature of weaker infant bonding in new mothers and should be investigated in vulnerable populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- N F Hoegholt
- Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, , 8000 Aarhus , Denmark
- Linacre College, University of Oxford Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, , Oxford OX37JX , United Kingdom
- Emergency Department at Randers Regional Hospital , 8930 , Denmark
| | - L Bonetti
- Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, , 8000 Aarhus , Denmark
- Linacre College, University of Oxford Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, , Oxford OX37JX , United Kingdom
- University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, , Oxford OX37JX , United Kingdom
| | - A B A Stevner
- Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, , 8000 Aarhus , Denmark
- Linacre College, University of Oxford Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, , Oxford OX37JX , United Kingdom
| | - C E Andersen
- Aarhus University Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, , 8000 Aarhus , Denmark
| | - M Hughes
- Linacre College, University of Oxford Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, , Oxford OX37JX , United Kingdom
| | - H M Fernandes
- Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, , 8000 Aarhus , Denmark
- Linacre College, University of Oxford Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, , Oxford OX37JX , United Kingdom
| | - P Vuust
- Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, , 8000 Aarhus , Denmark
| | - M L Kringelbach
- Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, , 8000 Aarhus , Denmark
- Linacre College Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, , University of Oxford, Oxford OX37JX, United Kingdom
- University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, , Oxford OX37JX , United Kingdom
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