The Association of Mother-Infant Neural Synchrony and Bonding – Ad Interim Results
Poster No:
2420
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Debora Suppiger1,2, Sabino Guglielmini1,3, Tilman Reinelt1,2, Martin Wolf3,2, Giancarlo Natalucci1,2,4
Institutions:
1FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn, Zurich, Switzerland, 2University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, 3Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, Neonatology Research, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, 4University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
First Author:
Debora Suppiger
FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn|University of Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn|University of Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
Co-Author(s):
Sabino Guglielmini
FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn|Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, Neonatology Research, University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn|Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, Neonatology Research, University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
Tilman Reinelt
FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn|University of Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn|University of Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
Martin Wolf
Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, Neonatology Research, University Hospital Zurich|University of Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, Neonatology Research, University Hospital Zurich|University of Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
Giancarlo Natalucci
FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn|University of Zurich|University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
FLRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn|University of Zurich|University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland|Zurich, Switzerland
Introduction:
Background
Brain-to-brain coupling, or neural synchrony, refers to the time-dependent association of two or more brain signals (10, 8). In adults, increased neural, physiological or behavioral synchrony is associated with attachment and communication facilitation (7, 8). Various forms of physiological (e.g., heart rate) and behavioral (e.g., gaze) synchrony have been observed in infants and their parents in situations such as play or breastfeeding (2, 5). Furthermore, these forms of synchrony have been associated with attachment and bonding, as well as infant developmental outcomes (2, 3). First evidence of parent-infant neural synchrony has been observed during parents singing nursery rhymes (6) or having proto-conversations with their infant (9), indicating the importance of neural synchrony in language development. Recently, neuro-behavioral coupling during mother-infant play was associated to caregiving profiles (1), portraying neural synchrony as a regulatory factor in infant social development. So far, no study has investigated whether neural synchrony is also associated with mother-infant relationship. The current project provides preliminary results on mother-infant neural and physiological synchrony.
Research Questions
• Do mother and infant brains synchronize during social play interactions?
• Does neural synchrony increase with physical touch?
Brain-to-brain coupling, or neural synchrony, refers to the time-dependent association of two or more brain signals (10, 8). In adults, increased neural, physiological or behavioral synchrony is associated with attachment and communication facilitation (7, 8). Various forms of physiological (e.g., heart rate) and behavioral (e.g., gaze) synchrony have been observed in infants and their parents in situations such as play or breastfeeding (2, 5). Furthermore, these forms of synchrony have been associated with attachment and bonding, as well as infant developmental outcomes (2, 3). First evidence of parent-infant neural synchrony has been observed during parents singing nursery rhymes (6) or having proto-conversations with their infant (9), indicating the importance of neural synchrony in language development. Recently, neuro-behavioral coupling during mother-infant play was associated to caregiving profiles (1), portraying neural synchrony as a regulatory factor in infant social development. So far, no study has investigated whether neural synchrony is also associated with mother-infant relationship. The current project provides preliminary results on mother-infant neural and physiological synchrony.
Research Questions
• Do mother and infant brains synchronize during social play interactions?
• Does neural synchrony increase with physical touch?
Methods:
The sample consists of 15 mothers (Mage = 34.56 years) and their infants (52.94 % female; Mage = 220.17 days; Mgestational_age= 39.31 weeks). Three pairs were excluded from the analysis due to the lack of optical coupling between the optodes caused by the dense hair of the mother. In a free interaction situation, the mother and infant play with each other, whilst the infant sits in a highchair (5 min) or is held by their mother on the lap (2 min). During baseline, the pair watches a cartoon with no direct interaction (4 min). During all conditions, systemic-augmented fNIRS hyperscanning (4) is applied in bilateral prefrontal (PFC) and temporo-parietal regions (TP). Time and frequency dependent correlation between the concentration changes of oxyhemoglobin ([O2Hb]) was calculated using the wavelet transform coherence (WTC). Mean coherence was evaluated for two frequency bands: the low frequency band (LF, 0.015–0.15 Hz) and the heart rate band (HR, 1–2.5 Hz). Furthermore, the WTC for 1200 random pairs was calculated as a control analysis for each condition and frequency band.
Results:
Preliminary results in the LF band showed a trend in all regions of interest: the mean coherence during the on-the-lap condition was higher compared to the other two conditions, especially compared to the baseline, this however remains non-significant. For the HR frequency band, statistically higher coherence was found in the left PFC during the on-the-lap condition compared to the baseline (p = 0.036). For the control analysis, we found statistically significant differences in the HR band during the on-the-lap condition in all the regions of interest (p < 0.05). The same was found for this frequency band during the face-to-face (left TP, right PFC) and the baseline condition (left and right PFC) (p < 0.05). The control analysis shows a statistically significant higher synchrony in real pairs than in random pairs.
·Figure 1 shows O2Hb in the right TP region of mother-infant pair 6. Below relative WTC between the signals, yellow indicating higher synchrony.
·Figure 2 shows mean WTC in low (LF) and heart rate (HR) frequency band for all three conditions (1) playing face-to-face; (2) playing with infant on the lap; (3) baseline watching a cartoon.
Conclusions:
Results present evidence of mother-infant brain coupling at 7.5 months during social play interaction, replicating recent findings (1). Highest levels of synchrony were observed during physical contact and direct interaction in the heart-rate frequency band. Systemic-augmented fNIRS hyperscanning is proposed to be a valuable tool to investigate early parent-child interaction. Synchrony in the LF band was not statistically significant among the three conditions. This is most likely due to the small sample size.
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Interaction
Social Neuroscience Other 2
Lifespan Development:
Early life, Adolescence, Aging
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
NIRS 1
Keywords:
Development
Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS)
PEDIATRIC
Social Interactions
Other - Neural Synchrony, Bonding
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
2. Feldman, R. (2007). "Parent–Infant Synchrony:Biological Foundations and Developmental Outcomes." Current Directions in Psychological Science 16(6): 340-345.
3. Feldman R. (2012) . "Parent-infant synchrony: A biobehavioral model of mutual influences in the formation of affiliative bonds". Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 77(2):42-51.
4. Guglielmini, S. (2022). "Systemic physiology augmented functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning: a first evaluation investigating entrainment of spontaneous activity of brain and body physiology between subjects". Neurophoton. 9(2) 026601. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.9.2.026601
5. Lan, Q.(2022). "Breastfeeding duration and vagal regulation of infants and mothers." Early Human Development 171: 105620.
6. Leong, V. (2017). "Speaker gaze increases information coupling between infant and adult brains." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(50): 13290-13295.
7. Markova, G. (2019). "Neurobehavioral Interpersonal Synchrony in Early Development: The Role of Interactional Rhythms." Frontiers in Psychology 10.
8. Nguyen, T. (2020). Chapter 1 - Studying parent-child interaction with hyperscanning. Progress in Brain Research. S. Hunnius and M. Meyer, Elsevier. 254: 1-24.
9. Nguyen, T.2023). "Your turn, my turn. Neural synchrony in mother–infant proto-conversation." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 378(1875): 20210488.
10. Scholkmann, F.(2013). "A new methodical approach in neuroscience: assessing inter-personal brain coupling using functional near-infrared imaging (fNIRI) hyperscanning." Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7.