Infants' experiences are considered to determine to a large degree the strength and effectiveness of neural connections and fine tune the development of brain networks. As one of the most pervasive and potent relational experiences of infancy, parent-child relationships appear to be prime candidates to account for experience-driven differences in children's brain development. Yet, studies linking parenting and functional connectivity are surprisingly scarce, and restricted to the connectivity of limbic structures. Accordingly, this longitudinal study explored whether normative variation in the quality of early maternal behaviour predicts the functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks in late childhood. Maternal mind-mindedness and autonomy support were assessed with 28 children when they were 13 and 15 months old respectively. When children were 10 years of age, children underwent a resting-state functional MRI exam. Functional connectivity was assessed between key regions of the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and frontal-parietal central executive network (CEN). Results revealed that higher mind-mindedness and autonomy support predicted stronger negative connectivity between DMN and SN regions. These findings are the first to provide preliminary evidence suggestive of a long-lasting impact of variation within the normative range of early maternal behaviour on functional connectivity between large-scale brain networks.

Emerging research suggests that normative variation in parenting quality relates to children's brain development. However, although the young brain is presumed to be especially sensitive to environmental influence, to our knowledge only two studies have examined parenting quality with infants as it relates to indicators of brain development, and both were cross-sectional. This longitudinal study investigated whether different components of maternal sensitivity in infancy predicted the volume of two brain structures presumed to be particularly sensitive to early experience, namely the amygdala and the hippocampus. Three dimensions of sensitivity (Cooperation/Attunement, Positivity, Accessibility/Availability) were observed in 33 mother-infant dyads at 1 year of age and children underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging at age 10. Higher maternal Accessibility/Availability during mother-infant interactions was found to be predictive of smaller right amygdala volume, while greater maternal positivity was predictive of smaller bilateral hippocampal volumes. These longitudinal findings extend those of previous cross-sectional studies and suggest that a multidimensional approach to maternal behavior could be a fruitful way to further advance research in this area, given that different facets of parenting might be differentially predictive of distinct aspects of neurodevelopment.Correspondence should be sent to

A large body of longitudinal research provides compelling evidence for the critical role of early attachment relationships in children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. It is expected that parent–child attachment relationships may also impact children’s brain development, however, studies linking normative caregiving experiences and brain structure are scarce. To our knowledge, no study has yet examined the associations between the quality of parent–infant attachment relationships and brain morphology during childhood. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the prospective links between mother–infant attachment security and whole-brain gray matter (GM) volume and thickness in late childhood. Attachment security toward the mother was assessed in 33 children when they were 15 months old. These children were then invited to undergo structural magnetic resonance imaging at 10–11 years of age. Results indicated that children more securely attached to their mother in infancy had larger GM volumes in the superior temporal sulcus and gyrus, temporo-parietal junction, and precentral gyrus in late childhood. No associations between attachment security and cortical thickness were found. If replicated, these results would suggest that a secure attachment relationship and its main features (e.g., adequate dyadic emotion regulation, competent exploration) may influence GM volume in brain regions involved in social, cognitive, and emotional functioning through experience-dependent processes.