A recent study published in Psychoneuroendocrinology found a link between maternal stress, brain activity, and parenting behaviors in new mothers. Researchers found that higher levels of cortisol were associated with more intrusive behavior in mothers during interactions with their infants. Furthermore, these increases in cortisol levels coincided with decreased activity in several brain regions when mothers heard their babies cry. This study is the first to examine in such detail the links between maternal cortisol levels, infant brain responses to distress, and parenting behaviors.
Cortisol is a hormone produced by the body’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and is central to the stress response. Elevated cortisol levels can affect the ability to regulate emotions and respond to stressors, which is an important factor in parenting behavior. Previous research has identified that higher basal cortisol levels are associated with less sensitivity and more intrusive parenting, but much of this research lacks a clear understanding of the neural mechanisms involved. I was there.
By studying brain activity in response to infant cries, researchers uncover how cortisol levels influence mothers’ brain function, particularly in areas related to emotional regulation and auditory processing. I thought I wanted to. The motivation for this study was to bridge the gap between the effects of cortisol on the brain and how it is reflected in observable caregiving behaviors.
“The goal of this study was to understand how the multiple biological systems that support parenting behaviors interact,” said study author Andrew, a school-age systems specialist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.・Mr. Erhart stated. Family and Child Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Denver.
“We know that the transition to parenthood is a critical time when the brain and body change to support the development of parenting behaviors. We are interested in understanding how environmental influences moderate biological changes during parenthood.”
“Understanding the biological system itself is a necessary first step, which is why we were particularly interested in examining the HPA axis as one of its biological components. It is a stress response system that is thought to help motivate parenting behaviors and is also particularly sensitive to environmental influences.”
The study involved 59 first-time mothers with infants aged 3 to 4 months. These mothers participated in home- and lab-based sessions designed to assess their cortisol levels, their behavior during interactions with their infants, and their brain responses to their infants’ cries.
Researchers recorded 15 minutes of interaction between mothers and infants during home visits. Mothers were taught to interact naturally without the use of toys, and their behavior was then coded into two parenting traits: maternal sensitivity and noninterference. Sensitivity refers to how well the mother responds to the baby’s cues, while non-intrusiveness refers to how much initiative the baby has during the interaction without the mother being too controlling or interfering. Reflects what you can hold. Cortisol samples were collected from mothers at several time points during the visit, and mean cortisol concentrations before and after the mother-infant interaction were recorded.
After the home visit, the mothers attended a testing session and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. During the scan, mothers listened to recordings of the cries of both their babies and control babies. The volume of these recordings was controlled, and mothers were not told which cries were their own child’s. The brain scans allowed the researchers to measure brain activity in response to infant cries, focusing on areas known to be involved in auditory processing, emotional regulation, and motor planning.
The findings reveal a clear link between elevated cortisol levels and both brain activity and parenting behaviors. Mothers who had higher cortisol levels during home visits were more likely to exhibit intrusive behavior, meaning they were more likely to control the interaction and interfere with the infant’s natural cues.
As for brain activity, fMRI scans showed that when mothers heard their infants cry, increased cortisol levels were associated with decreased activation in several areas of the brain. These regions include the right central gyrus (involved in motor planning), the superior temporal gyrus (processes auditory information), the medial frontal gyrus (related to emotional regulation), and the fossa fossa (cerebellar region associated with early auditory processing). ) is included. This reduction in brain activity was associated with more intrusive parenting, suggesting that elevated cortisol levels may impair a mother’s ability to calmly and effectively respond to her baby’s distress.
“The most surprising finding was that the interaction between cortisol and the mother’s brain occurred primarily in areas of the brain thought to be involved in motor planning and auditory processing, rather than in parts of the brain involved in emotional regulation. ,” Erhardt told PsyPost.
“We hypothesized that these emotion regulation regions would be highly correlated with cortisol in the context of parenting, but this was not the case. By examining the brain networks involved here, we found that “Requires further research. There are techniques that can better elucidate the relationship between brain function and subsequent behavior than the region-based activation analysis performed in this paper.”
One particularly interesting finding was the three-way interaction observed in the precuneus, a brain region involved in processing self-related emotional information. The researchers found that mothers with higher cortisol levels had reduced activation in this region when they heard their own babies crying, compared to the cries of control babies. This suggests that stress may reduce a mother’s ability to emotionally relate to her child’s distress, leading to more intrusive behaviors.
“Importantly, we are learning more about how our stress system interacts with the mother’s brain when responding to infant cries, and how this relates to parenting behavior. It means that I can now understand it better,” Erhardt said. “Brain regions responsible for motor planning and auditory processing have been found to be less involved in increasing cortisol levels.”
“This study is a first step toward understanding the relationship between maternal cortisol and the maternal brain, and how they are related to intrusive parenting behaviors.” have demonstrated the importance of cortisol levels during the postpartum period and are subject to further research.”
However, as with all research, there are some caveats. One limitation is the cross-sectional design of this study. This means it only provides a snapshot of the relationship between cortisol levels, brain activity, and parenting behaviors at a single point in time. Therefore, it is not possible to determine whether high cortisol causes changes in brain function or parenting behavior, or whether other factors, such as exposure to stress, cause changes in both cortisol levels and behavior.
“The big caveat is to avoid overgeneralizing and overestimating this study,” Erhardt said. “When examining the relationship between biological systems and behavior, we must acknowledge that we are discussing how things are observed ‘on average’. The biological systems that support behavior are complex, multifaceted, and often context-dependent. This is especially true for new studies that examine the interrelationships of two different biological systems. Therefore, we are still in the realm of “basic research” rather than applied research. ”
Despite these limitations, this study provides important new insights into how biological mechanisms, such as the stress hormone cortisol, shape maternal caregiving behavior. Future research in this area may inform interventions aimed at supporting new mothers, particularly those experiencing high levels of stress.
“The long-term goal of this study is to understand how everyday experiences influence the brains of both parents and children,” Erhardt explained. “The Institute for Family and Child Neuroscience, which is driving this research, will use psychological and neuroscientific mechanisms to help families make informed decisions for their well-being and to help public We have a mission to influence health policy.”
“Maternal cortisol levels are associated with reduced brain activation in response to infant crying and more intrusive parenting behaviors,” the study was conducted by Andrew Erhart, Sarah Cottonura, Aviva K. Olsavsky, Alexander Dufford, Rebekah Tribble, and Written by Tom Yeh, and Pilyoung Kim.