Sethna, V. and Pote, I. and Wang, S. and Gudbrandsen, M. and Blasi, Anna and McCukser, C. and Daly, E. and Perry, E. and Adams, K.P.H. and Kuklisova-Murgasova, M. and Busuulwa, P. and Lloyd-Fox, Sarah and Murray, L. and Johnson, Mark H. and Williams, S.R.C. and Murphy, D.G.M. and Craig, M.C. and McAlonan, G.M. (2017) Mother-infant interactions and regional brain volumes in infancy: an MRI study. Brain Structure and Function 222 (5), pp. 2379-2388. ISSN 1863-2653.
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Abstract
It is generally agreed that the human brain is responsive to environmental influences, and that the male brain may be particularly sensitive to early adversity. However, this is largely based on retrospective studies of older children and adolescents exposed to extreme environments in childhood. Less is understood about how normative variations in parent–child interactions are associated with the development of the infant brain in typical settings. To address this, we used magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the relationship between observational measures of mother–infant interactions and regional brain volumes in a community sample of 3- to 6-month-old infants (N = 39). In addition, we examined whether this relationship differed in male and female infants. We found that lower maternal sensitivity was correlated with smaller subcortical grey matter volumes in the whole sample, and that this was similar in both sexes. However, male infants who showed greater levels of positive communication and engagement during early interactions had smaller cerebellar volumes. These preliminary findings suggest that variations in mother–infant interaction dimensions are associated with differences in infant brain development. Although the study is cross-sectional and causation cannot be inferred, the findings reveal a dynamic interaction between brain and environment that may be important when considering interventions to optimize infant outcomes.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Mother–infant interaction, Infant brain structure, MRI, Infancy, Sex differences, Maternal sensitivity, Infant cerebellum |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Mark Johnson |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Jan 2017 12:39 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:29 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/17552 |
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