title: Mother-infant interactions and regional brain volumes in infancy: an MRI study.
abstract: It is generally agreed that the human brain is responsive to environmental influences, and that the male brain may be particularly sensitive to early adversity. However, this is largely based on retrospective studies of older children and adolescents exposed to extreme environments in childhood. Less is understood about how normative variations in parent-child interactions are associated with the development of the infant brain in typical settings. To address this, we used magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the relationship between observational measures of mother-infant interactions and regional brain volumes in a community sample of 3- to 6-month-old infants (N = 39). In addition, we examined whether this relationship differed in male and female infants. We found that lower maternal sensitivity was correlated with smaller subcortical grey matter volumes in the whole sample, and that this was similar in both sexes. However, male infants who showed greater levels of positive communication and engagement during early interactions had smaller cerebellar volumes. These preliminary findings suggest that variations in mother-infant interaction dimensions are associated with differences in infant brain development. Although the study is cross-sectional and causation cannot be inferred, the findings reveal a dynamic interaction between brain and environment that may be important when considering interventions to optimize infant outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK. vaheshta.sethna@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Vaheshta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sethna
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Inês
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pote
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Science, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Siying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gudbrandsen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCusker
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Kerrie P H
authors.initials: KPH
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.affiliation: Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Centre for the Developing Brain, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuklisova-Murgasova
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.|GKT School of Medical Education, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Busuulwa
authors.affiliation: Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lloyd-Fox
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.|Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Mark H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.|NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Steven C R
authors.initials: SCR
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Declan G M
authors.initials: DGM
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, PO 50, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8A, UK.
authors.forename: Grainne M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: McAlonan
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Infancy; Infant brain structure; Infant cerebellum; MRI; Maternal sensitivity; Mother–infant interaction; Sex differences