OBJECTIVE: The mother-child relationship may have important implications for emotional development and adult psychopathology. The objective of this study was to examine brain responses to processing maternal faces in healthy adult women. METHODS: Ten healthy adult female volunteers with adequate early-life maternal care and a normal relationship with their living mothers participated in the study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine brain responses to pictures of the subject's mother, a close female friend, and 2 age-matched female strangers during passive viewing, valence (emotional), and salience (self-relevance) evaluations. RESULTS: The main contrast of mother, compared with all others (that is, friend and older and younger strangers), demonstrated the following: first, significant activation in the left posterior cingulate cortex-precuneus (PCC-Pcu), collapsed across all tasks; second, right ventromedial prefrontal cortex-anterior cingulate cortex (VMPFC-ACC) activation during the valence condition; and third, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activation during the salience condition. In the region-of-interest analyses, the VMPFC-ACC and DLPFC showed significant activations in response to mothers' faces and deactivation in response to control faces. Among the 3 regions, only VMPFC-ACC activity distinguished the unique processing of one's own mother's face from that of a close friend. PCC-Pcu activations demonstrate a graded response (mother > friend > strangers) and, further, demonstrated differential response with respect to mothering style. CONCLUSIONS: The activation in prefrontal and cingulate cortices related to maternal face processing is consistent with their implicated roles in mother-infant interactions, personal familiarity, and emotional and self-relevant processing. These findings suggest a neural basis for maternal attachment and propose a focus for future studies aimed at investigating the impact of disrupted maternal attachment on emotional development.
OBJECTIVE: The mother-child relationship may have important implications for emotional development and adult psychopathology. The objective of this study was to examine brain responses to processing maternal faces in healthy adult women. METHODS: Ten healthy adult female volunteers with adequate early-life maternal care and a normal relationship with their living mothers participated in the study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine brain responses to pictures of the subject's mother, a close female friend, and 2 age-matched female strangers during passive viewing, valence (emotional), and salience (self-relevance) evaluations. RESULTS: The main contrast of mother, compared with all others (that is, friend and older and younger strangers), demonstrated the following: first, significant activation in the left posterior cingulate cortex-precuneus (PCC-Pcu), collapsed across all tasks; second, right ventromedial prefrontal cortex-anterior cingulate cortex (VMPFC-ACC) activation during the valence condition; and third, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activation during the salience condition. In the region-of-interest analyses, the VMPFC-ACC and DLPFC showed significant activations in response to mothers' faces and deactivation in response to control faces. Among the 3 regions, only VMPFC-ACC activity distinguished the unique processing of one's own mother's face from that of a close friend. PCC-Pcu activations demonstrate a graded response (mother > friend > strangers) and, further, demonstrated differential response with respect to mothering style. CONCLUSIONS: The activation in prefrontal and cingulate cortices related to maternal face processing is consistent with their implicated roles in mother-infant interactions, personal familiarity, and emotional and self-relevant processing. These findings suggest a neural basis for maternal attachment and propose a focus for future studies aimed at investigating the impact of disrupted maternal attachment on emotional development.
Authors: Rajamannar Ramasubbu; Svetlana Masalovich; Ismael Gaxiola; Scott Peltier; Paul E Holtzheimer; Christine Heim; Bradley Goodyear; Glenda Macqueen; Helen S Mayberg Journal: Psychiatry Res Date: 2011-09-29 Impact factor: 3.222
Authors: Angela R Laird; Michael C Riedel; Matthew T Sutherland; Simon B Eickhoff; Kimberly L Ray; Angela M Uecker; P Mickle Fox; Jessica A Turner; Peter T Fox Journal: Neuroimage Date: 2015-06-18 Impact factor: 6.556
Authors: Igor I Galynker; Zimri S Yaseen; Curren Katz; Xian Zhang; Gillian Jennings-Donovan; Stephen Dashnaw; Joy Hirsch; Helen Mayberg; Lisa J Cohen; Arnold Winston Journal: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci Date: 2011-10-27 Impact factor: 3.436
Authors: Rebecca M Todd; Jennifer W Evans; Drew Morris; Marc D Lewis; Margot J Taylor Journal: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci Date: 2010-03-01 Impact factor: 3.436
Authors: Michael C Riedel; Julio A Yanes; Kimberly L Ray; Simon B Eickhoff; Peter T Fox; Matthew T Sutherland; Angela R Laird Journal: Hum Brain Mapp Date: 2018-02-26 Impact factor: 5.038