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Neglectful maternal caregiving involves altered brain volume in empathy-related areas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2019

María José Rodrigo Open the ORCID record for María José Rodrigo [Opens in a new window] ,
Inmaculada León ,
Lorna García-Pentón ,
Juan Andrés Hernández-Cabrera  and
Ileana Quiñones
María José Rodrigo*
Affiliation:
Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain Facultad de Psicología. Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain
Inmaculada León
Affiliation:
Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain Facultad de Psicología. Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain
Lorna García-Pentón
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology at Scarborough; University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Juan Andrés Hernández-Cabrera
Affiliation:
Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain Facultad de Psicología. Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain
Ileana Quiñones
Affiliation:
Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language, Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain.
*
Author for Correspondence: María José Rodrigo, Facultad de Psicología, Campus de Guajara, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain; E-mail; mjrodri@ull.es
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Abstract

The maternal brain undergoes adaptations to sensitive caregiving that are critical for infant well-being. We investigated structural alterations associated with neglectful caregiving and their effects on mother–child interactive behavior. High-resolution 3D volumetric images were obtained on 25 neglectful (NM) and 23 non-neglectful control (CM) mothers. Using voxel-based morphometry, we compared differences in gray and white matter (GM and WM, respectively) volume. Mothers completed an empathy scale and participated with their children in a play task (Emotional Availability Scale, EA). Neglectful mothers showed smaller GM volume in the right insula, anterior/middle cingulate (ACC/MCC), and right inferior frontal gyrus and less WM volume in bilateral frontal regions than did CM. A greater GM volume was observed in the right fusiform and cerebellum in NM than in CM. Regression analyses showed a negative effect of greater fusiform GM volume and a positive effect of greater right frontal WM volume on EA. Mediation analyses showed the role of emotional empathy in the positive effect of the insula and right inferior frontal gyrus and in the negative effect of the cerebellum on EA. Neglectful mothering involves alterations in emotional empathy-related areas and in frontal areas associated with poor mother–child interactive bonding, indicating how critical these areas are for sensitive caregiving.

Keywords

empathymaternal neglectmother–child interactionvolume alterationsvoxel-based morphometry
Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 32 , Special Issue 4: Conceptualizing and Interrogating Autism Spectrum Disorder from a Developmental Psychopathology Framework , October 2020 , pp. 1534 - 1543
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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