Maternal brain response to own baby-cry is affected by cesarean section delivery.
A range of early circumstances surrounding the birth of a child affects peripartum hormones, parental behavior and infant wellbeing. One of these factors, which may lead to postpartum depression, is the mode of delivery: vaginal delivery (VD) or cesarean section delivery (CSD). To test the hypothesis that CSD mothers would be less responsive to own baby-cry stimuli than VD mothers in the immediate postpartum period, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging, 2-4 weeks after delivery, of the brains of six mothers who delivered vaginally and six who had an elective CSD. VD mothers' brains were significantly more responsive than CSD mothers' brains to their own baby-cry in the superior and middle temporal gyri, superior frontal gyrus, medial fusiform gyrus, superior parietal lobe, as well as regions of the caudate, thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala and pons. Also, within preferentially active regions of VD brains, there were correlations across all 12 mothers with out-of-magnet variables. These include correlations between own baby-cry responses in the left and right lenticular nuclei and parental preoccupations (r = .64, p < .05 and .67, p < .05 respectively), as well as in the superior frontal cortex and Beck depression inventory (r = .78, p < .01). First this suggests that VD mothers are more sensitive to own baby-cry than CSD mothers in the early postpartum in sensory processing, empathy, arousal, motivation, reward and habit-regulation circuits. Second, independent of mode of delivery, parental worries and mood are related to specific brain activations in response to own baby-cry.
Swain
James E
JE
Yale Child Study Center, Program for Risk, Resilience and Recovery, USA. james.swain@yale.edu
Tasgin
Esra
E
Mayes
Linda C
LC
Feldman
Ruth
R
Constable
R Todd
RT
Leckman
James F
JF
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000523:psychology*; D003237:Connecticut; D003448:Crying; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting; D049590:Postpartum Period
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2000 Dec;1(3):199-207
11257908
Neuron. 2005 Mar 3;45(5):651-60
15748841
Brain Res. 2006 Mar 24;1079(1):4-14
16460715
Neuroimage. 2005 Dec;28(4):904-14
16061398
Physiol Behav. 2002 Sep;77(1):151-4
12213513
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007 Mar-Apr;48(3-4):262-87
17355399
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1999 Sep;40(6):929-39
10509887
Physiol Behav. 1992 Mar;51(3):549-55
1523232
Physiol Behav. 1994 Feb;55(2):395-400
8153185
Dev Psychobiol. 2007 Jan;49(1):12-21
17186513
Health Policy Plan. 2006 Jul;21(4):319-25
16790455
Reprod Nutr Dev. 2005 May-Jun;45(3):341-51
15982459
BJOG. 2003 Apr;110(4):346-9
12699794
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2003 Jun;188(6):1579-85; discussion 1585-7
12824996
Am J Public Health. 2006 May;96(5):867-72
16571712
Neuroimage. 2002 Apr;15(4):870-8
11906227
Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2001 Oct;36(2-3):139-49
11690610
Science. 1992 May 8;256(5058):833-6
1589766
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2006 Dec 29;361(1476):2109-28
17118927
Behav Brain Res. 2007 Sep 4;182(2):155-65
17363076
Int J Dev Neurosci. 2005 Apr-May;23(2-3):125-41
15749240
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1999 Jun 29;877:523-47
10415669
Magn Reson Med. 1995 May;33(5):636-47
7596267
Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev. 2006 Dec;5(4):163-90
17099111
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2001 Feb;2(2):129-36
11252992
Exp Physiol. 2000 Mar;85 Spec No:111S-124S
10795913
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004 Jan;61(1):34-41
14706942
Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl. 1999;396:1-26
10478283
Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2001 Dec;13(6):557-61
11707657
Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2006 Sep 29;55(1):1-101
17051727
Behav Brain Sci. 2004 Aug;27(4):443-58; discussion 459-90
15773426
Soc Sci Med. 2007 Jun;64(11):2272-84
17395349
Lancet. 2006 Jun 3;367(9525):1819-29
16753484
Psychosom Med. 2006 Mar-Apr;68(2):321-30
16554400
Prog Brain Res. 2005;148:139-50
15661187
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1997 Jun 21;821:194-207
9238204
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1998 Nov 29;353(1377):1915-27
9854264
Am J Psychiatry. 1993 Aug;150(8):1139-48
8328557
Br J Psychiatry. 1987 Jan;150:30-42
3651696
Neuroreport. 2005 Nov 7;16(16):1731-4
16237317
BJOG. 2003 Jun;110(6):610-5
12798481
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007 Mar-Apr;48(3-4):329-54
17355401
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Apr 29;100(9):5497-502
12682281
Hum Brain Mapp. 2002 May;16(1):1-13
11870922
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2006 Dec;1(3):242-9
17607327
J Consult Clin Psychol. 1988 Dec;56(6):893-7
3204199
Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2002 Nov;267(1):27-32
12410370
Psychol Sci. 2007 Nov;18(11):965-70
17958710
Hum Brain Mapp. 2006 May;27(5):392-401
16596654
Annu Rev Sex Res. 2005;16:62-86
16913288
J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2004 Jul;111(7):753-71
15205997
Am J Public Health. 2005 Sep;95(9):1545-51
16118366
Neuroreport. 2006 Feb 6;17(2):167-71
16407765
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2005 Jun 29;360(1458):1271-9
16147522
Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2002 Nov;79(2):151-8
12427402
Biol Psychiatry. 2002 Mar 15;51(6):431-45
11922877
Dev Psychopathol. 1999 Winter;11(1):1-13
10208353
Neuropsychopharmacology. 2001 Feb;24(2):97-129
11120394
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 May;1104:70-88
17344522
Brain Res Bull. 2005 Nov 15;67(5):391-7
16216685
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005 Feb;62(2):173-81
15699294
Horm Behav. 2006 Nov;50(4):518-28
16884725
Biol Psychiatry. 2002 Jan 1;51(1):27-43
11801229
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2006 Apr;16(2):235-9
16546372
Physiol Behav. 1986;37(1):23-6
3737720
Hum Brain Mapp. 1996;4(1):58-73
20408186
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2004 Apr;14(2):198-202
15082325
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2006 Jan;7(1):54-64
16371950
Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Jan;103(1):128-36
14704256
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004 Jun;61(6):564-76
15184236
Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2001 Feb;15(1):109-26
11359318
Curr Opin Neurol. 2005 Aug;18(4):411-7
16003117
Curr Opin Neurol. 2005 Aug;18(4):442-7
16003122
Cereb Cortex. 2008 Apr;18(4):898-903
17638925