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Gender differences in brain response to infant emotional faces
Kaihua Zhang1, Xiaoyu Du2, Xianling Liu3
1School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250358, Shandong, China.
BMC Neuroscience
|December 27, 2022
Summary
Adult brain responses to infant emotional faces differ between sexes, particularly in women
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Infant emotional cues are vital for adult-infant interaction and attachment.
- Understanding adult neural processing of infant stimuli is key to attachment research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate sex differences in adult brain activity in response to infant emotional faces.
- To explore neural mechanisms underlying adult responses to infant cues using neuroimaging.
Main Methods:
- Utilized task-functional magnetic resonance imaging (task-fMRI) and resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI).
- Exposed adult participants (26 women, 25 men) to infant emotional faces (happy, neutral, sad).
- Analyzed brain activity and network connectivity differences between sexes.
Main Results:
- Significant sex differences observed in brain regions involved in facial processing, attention, and empathy.
- Women showed increased default-mode network connectivity compared to men.
- Brain activation in emotional networks correlated with women's empathy scores.
Conclusions:
- Adult male and female brains process infant emotional faces differently.
- Enhanced connectivity and empathy-related activation in women may support nurturing behaviors.
- Findings offer insights into the neural basis of adult responses to infant cues and attachment.
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