Interoception sensitivity in the parental brain during the first months of parenting modulates children's somatic symptoms six years later: The role of oxytocin

International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology
Eyal AbrahamRuth Feldman

Abstract

Interoception, the perception and interpretation of one's own bodily signals, is a key aspect of human caregiving that impacts infant health and well-being across life. Interoception relies on limbic structures, mainly the amygdala, and the agranular visceromotor cortex, particularly the anterior insula (AI), that integrate with the oxytocin (OT) system to support interoceptive sensitivity. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether interoception sensitivity in the parent's brain during the first months of parenting combines with sensitive parenting and OT-system functionality to predict children's somatic symptoms six years later. We followed 45 primary-caregiving first-time mothers and fathers and their infants across the first six years of parenting. In infancy (Time 1), parents' brain response to infant stimuli was imaged, salivary OT measured, and parent-infant interactions coded for parent sensitivity. In preschool (Time 2), parent and child's OT and parent sensitivity were measured again. At six years (Time 3), parents reported on children's somatic symptoms. Greater activation of the parent's AI bilaterally when his/her child was an infant predicted lower child somatic problems at six ...Continue Reading

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