Dyadic physiological synchrony and maternal anxiety regulate infant autonomic and neural function

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Neuroscience
• Physiology

Background:

• Caregiver-infant physiological synchrony is theorized to shape infant regulatory systems and emotional signal transmission.
• The interplay between synchrony, maternal emotional state, and developmental timing on infant neurophysiology is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of maternal anxiety and mother-infant physiological synchrony at 3 months postpartum on infant autonomic regulation and neural function.
• To examine how these effects change across development from 3 to 9 months postpartum.

Main Methods:

• Measured infant autonomic regulation via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA).
• Assessed infant neural function using aperiodic EEG slope and theta-beta ratio at 3 and 9 months.
• Analyzed physiological synchrony using surrogate control methods.
• Examined the moderating role of synchrony on anxiety's effects.

Main Results:

• Higher maternal anxiety correlated with lower infant RSA and steeper aperiodic EEG slopes at both 3 and 9 months.
• Maternal anxiety's impact on RSA and EEG slope intensified by 9 months.
• Physiological synchrony showed concurrent effects at 3 months that diminished by 9 months.
• Synchrony moderated anxiety's effect on RSA: high synchrony dyads showed reduced RSA with increased anxiety, unlike low synchrony dyads.

Conclusions:

• Physiological synchrony plays a critical, context- and time-dependent role in infant neural and autonomic development.
• Synchrony may support infant regulation while potentially amplifying the transmission of maternal emotional states.
• Findings underscore the importance of considering both synchrony and maternal emotional context in early development.