Baby stimuli and the parent brain: functional neuroimaging of the neural substrates of parent-infant attachment.

Interacting parenting thoughts and behaviors critically shape human infants' current and future behavior. Indeed, the parent-infant relationship provides infants with their first social environment, forming templates for what they can expect from others and how best to interact with them. This paper focuses on the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments relevant to the study of the brain-basis of parenting. First there is a brief introduction to techniques and a selective review of functional neuroimaging studies that examine fMRI responses to infant stimuli: baby sounds or visuals. Next, there is a sample single-subject set of brain imaging data of brain response to own-baby-cry. Finally, there is a proposed model of how infant stimuli activate parent brain circuits, including sensory analysis brain regions, as well as corticolimbic circuits that regulate motivation, reward, and learning about their infants, and ultimately organize parenting impulses, thoughts, and emotions into coordinated behaviors. It is argued that an integrated understanding of the brain basis of parenting has profound implications for understanding long-term parent and infant mental health risk and resilience.