Cerebral Synchronization Between Mothers and Their Newborns During Breastfeeding

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Biology
• Maternal-Infant Health

Background:

• Breastfeeding is crucial for mammalian development and mother-infant attachment.
• Early synchronized brain activity between mothers and newborns is hypothesized but not well-studied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate functional synchronization between maternal and neonatal cortical areas during breastfeeding.
• To assess if this synchronization is present from the second day of life.

Main Methods:

• Utilized multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for hyperscanning in 20 mother-newborn pairs.
• Measured cortical activation (hemoglobin changes) in frontal and sensorimotor areas during breastfeeding.
• Applied wavelet transform coherence (WTC) analysis to detect neural synchronization.

Main Results:

• Mothers exhibited activation in the sensorimotor cortex; newborns showed bilateral frontal cortex activation.
• WTC analysis revealed two distinct cyclical synchronizations between maternal and neonatal activated cortical regions.
• Synchronized neural activity was detected as early as the second day of life.

Conclusions:

• Early cyclical neural synchronization occurs between mother and newborn during breastfeeding.
• This synchronization may facilitate shared experiences, motor adjustments, and hormonal regulation.
• Observed neural synchrony likely plays a key role in promoting early mother-infant bonding.