Synchrony and Specificity in the Maternal and the Paternal Brain: Relations to Oxytocin and Vasopressin

Atzil, Shir; Hendler, Talma; Zagoory‐Sharon, Orna; Winetraub, Yonatan; Feldman, Ruth

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2012.06.008

Cited by 202 publications

(217 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…This is consistent with previous findings using baby cry and visual stimuli (Atzil et al, 2012;Ho et al, 2014;Kim et al, 2011;Phelps, 2004;Swain et al, 2008;Wittfoth-Schardt et al, 2012). …”

Section: Figure 2 About Here Please Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Natural variation in maternal sensitivity is reflected in maternal brain responses to infant stimuli.

Elmadih¹,

Wan²,

Downey³

et al. 2016

Behavioral Neuroscience

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Section: Figure 2 About Here Please Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Natural variation in maternal sensitivity is reflected in maternal brain responses to infant stimuli.

Elmadih¹,

Wan²,

Downey³

et al. 2016

Behavioral Neuroscience

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“…In animals, intranasal OT can excite neuronal populations in the amygdala (52), with different amygdala subregions mediating the variable impacts of OT on attention to affective social stimuli (53). In mothers who are synchronous while interacting with their infant (thus providing a rewarding parental context), activation in the right amygdala (when viewing one's own infant vs. another person's infant) is positively correlated with levels of plasma OT (54). Notably, the portion of the orbitofrontal cortex (BA 25) identified here has been implicated as a node in a socioemotional network that modulates affective evaluations and exhibits increased functional connectivity due to OT administration in typically developing adults (55)(56)(57).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxytocin enhances brain function in children with autism

Gordon

Wyk

Bennett

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Following intranasal administration of oxytocin (OT), we measured, via functional MRI, changes in brain activity during judgments of socially (Eyes) and nonsocially (Vehicles) meaningful pictures in 17 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). OT increased activity in the striatum, the middle frontal gyrus, the medial prefrontal cortex, the right orbitofrontal cortex, and the left superior temporal sulcus. In the striatum, nucleus accumbens, left posterior superior temporal sulcus, and left premotor cortex, OT increased activity during social judgments and decreased activity during nonsocial judgments. Changes in salivary OT concentrations from baseline to 30 min postadministration were positively associated with increased activity in the right amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex during social vs. nonsocial judgments. OT may thus selectively have an impact on salience and hedonic evaluations of socially meaningful stimuli in children with ASD, and thereby facilitate social attunement. These findings further the development of a neurophysiological systems-level understanding of mechanisms by which OT may enhance social functioning in children with ASD.A utism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common, early-onset neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by devastating difficulties in social interaction, communication, and repetitive or restricted interests and behaviors. ASD displays great phenotypic heterogeneity and etiological diversity, but its original characterization, social dysfunction, has been its hallmark and unifying feature (1). There is no established pharmacological treatment for social impairment in ASD.When given acutely, intranasal oxytocin (OT) leads to enhanced processing of social stimuli in typically developing adults, as evidenced by increased eye contact, in-group trust, and emotion recognition from facial expressions (2-4). At the level of neural systems, intranasal OT heightens activity in a set of neuroanatomical structures involved in processing socially meaningful stimuli in typically developing adults (5, 6). Recently, the first brain imaging study in adults with ASD examined the effects of OT administration and identified increased activation in the right amygdala during social information processing (7).Behavioral studies demonstrate that in children and adults with ASD, a single administration of intranasal OT leads to increased willingness to interact socially (8), better comprehension of affective speech (9), reduced repetitive behaviors (10), increased understanding of others' mental states (11), and improved social cognition (12). Despite cautionary calls regarding the use of OT in children to treat ASD before understanding the neural mechanisms underlying OT's complex impact on behavior (13), there have been no studies on the effects of OT administration on brain activity in children. Furthermore, although there are several large-scale clinical trials currently underway (www. clinicaltrials.gov) to examine the effects of chronically administered OT in ASD, the e...

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“…frontal regions, VTA, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) (16,17). Only one study compared maternal and paternal brain response to infant cues, reporting mothers' greater amygdala activation, fathers' greater superior-temporal and medialfrontal activation, and maternal and paternal oxytocin's different associations with amygdala vs. cortical activation (18). Oxytocin, a nine-amino acid neuropeptide that underpins the formation of affiliative bonds (19), supports the development of human parental caregiving (20).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Father's brain is sensitive to childcare experiences

Abraham

Hendler

Shapira‐Lichter

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Although contemporary socio-cultural changes dramatically increased fathers' involvement in childrearing, little is known about the brain basis of human fatherhood, its comparability with the maternal brain, and its sensitivity to caregiving experiences. We measured parental brain response to infant stimuli using functional MRI, oxytocin, and parenting behavior in three groups of parents (n = 89) raising their firstborn infant: heterosexual primarycaregiving mothers (PC-Mothers), heterosexual secondary-caregiving fathers (SC-Fathers), and primary-caregiving homosexual fathers (PC-Fathers) rearing infants without maternal involvement. Results revealed that parenting implemented a global "parental caregiving" neural network, mainly consistent across parents, which integrated functioning of two systems: the emotional processing network including subcortical and paralimbic structures associated with vigilance, salience, reward, and motivation, and mentalizing network involving frontopolar-medial-prefrontal and temporo-parietal circuits implicated in social understanding and cognitive empathy. These networks work in concert to imbue infant care with emotional salience, attune with the infant state, and plan adequate parenting. PC-Mothers showed greater activation in emotion processing structures, correlated with oxytocin and parent-infant synchrony, whereas SC-Fathers displayed greater activation in cortical circuits, associated with oxytocin and parenting. PC-Fathers exhibited high amygdala activation similar to PC-Mothers, alongside high activation of superior temporal sulcus (STS) comparable to SC-Fathers, and functional connectivity between amygdala and STS. Among all fathers, time spent in direct childcare was linked with the degree of amygdala-STS connectivity. Findings underscore the common neural basis of maternal and paternal care, chart brain-hormone-behavior pathways that support parenthood, and specify mechanisms of brain malleability with caregiving experiences in human fathers.mothering | parent-infant interaction | alloparental care | transition to parenthood | social brain

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Synchrony and Specificity in the Maternal and the Paternal Brain: Relations to Oxytocin and Vasopressin

Cited by 202 publications

References 32 publications

Natural variation in maternal sensitivity is reflected in maternal brain responses to infant stimuli.

Natural variation in maternal sensitivity is reflected in maternal brain responses to infant stimuli.

Oxytocin enhances brain function in children with autism

Father's brain is sensitive to childcare experiences

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