Selective attention to fearful faces during pregnancy

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Pregnancy may alter cognitive and emotional processing, including anxiety and threat perception.
• Existing research on pregnancy-related cognitive changes is inconsistent.
• Limited data exist on the correlation between these changes and hormonal measures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate danger sensitivity, specifically selective attention to fearful and angry faces, during pregnancy.
• To correlate these attentional changes with distress, anxiety, and key hormones (cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone).

Main Methods:

• An emotional Stroop task assessed selective attention to facial emotions in pregnant women (n=44) and controls (n=25).
• Distress (K-10) and anxiety (Spielberger State-Trait Inventory) were measured.
• Hormone levels (cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone) were analyzed in trimesters 2 and 3.

Main Results:

• Pregnant women exhibited altered attention to fearful faces compared to controls.
• Distressed pregnant women showed significantly increased selective attention to fearful faces versus distressed controls.
• Attention to fear correlated with higher estrogen and progesterone in trimester 2 and lower cortisol in trimester 3.

Conclusions:

• Heightened sensitivity to danger cues in pregnancy may represent an adaptive parental precaution mechanism.
• These changes appear more pronounced in distressed pregnant women.
• Hormonal shifts, particularly in glucocorticoid and gonadal systems, may mediate these pregnancy-related attentional modifications.