Brain processes in women and men in response to emotive sounds

Abstract

Adult appropriate responding to salient infant signals is vital to child healthy psychological development. Here we investigated how infant crying, relative to other emotive sounds of infant laughing or adult crying, captures adults’ brain resources. In a sample of nulliparous women and men, we investigated the effects of different sounds on cerebral activation of the default mode network (DMN) and reaction times (RTs) while listeners engaged in self-referential decision and syllabic counting tasks, which, respectively, require the activation or deactivation of the DMN. Sounds affect women and men differently. In women, infant crying deactivated the DMN during the self-referential decision task; in men, female adult crying interfered with the DMN during the syllabic counting task. These findings point to different brain processes underlying responsiveness to crying in women and men and show that cerebral activation is modulated by situational contexts in which crying occurs.

Brain Processes in Mothers and Nulliparous Women in Response to Cry in Different Situational Contexts: A Default Mode Network Study

“…The present study aimed to extend previous findings in Rigo et al (2017) and examine potential interactions between the situational context and brain responses to infant cry versus other control sounds. Here, situational context (infant-unrelated care activities) was operationalized in self-oriented and goal-oriented tasks, which co-occurred with the presentation of infant cry and other emotional sounds.…”

“…We compared previously collected fMRI data from nulliparous women (Rigo et al, 2017) with new data collected from mothers. To ensure consistency for data comparison, the tasks, stimuli, fMRI scanning parameters, and analyses were the same as used previously and focused on involvement of the DMN in nulliparous women listening to crying and RESPONSE TO CRY IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS other emotional sounds.…”

“…In a previous fMRI study, we found a significant interaction between brain responses to an infant-unrelated task and to emotional sounds in nulliparous women; self-and goal-oriented tasks represented situational contexts during which participants listened to infant cries (Rigo et al, 2017). Daily activities requiring goal-or self-oriented processes that recruit different brain resources to address infant-unrelated and infant-related care activities were simulated in the laboratory (Bornstein, 2016).…”

“…Interference of self-oriented tasks therefore leads to a decrease in activation of the DMN. In women, infant crying reduced activation of the DMN in a self-oriented task, which normally requires DMN activation, but no effect of infant cry (or other emotional sounds) was found in a goal-oriented task (Rigo et al, 2017). These findings led to the hypothesis that, in women, processing of emotional sounds might compete for the same brain resources required during self-oriented tasks.…”

“…Here, situational context (infant-unrelated care activities) was operationalized in self-oriented and goal-oriented tasks, which co-occurred with the presentation of infant cry and other emotional sounds. De Pisapia et al (2013) and Rigo et al (2017) reported that both mothers and nonmothers showed DMN deactivation to infant cry, pointing to the disengagement of cognitive resources from internally focused thoughts (a mental state that activates the DMN). Therefore, in response to infant cry during a selforiented task that is known to activate the DMN, we expected to observe the same deactivation (or weak activation) of the DMN in both mothers and nulliparas.…”