Sexing the parental brain in shopping: a 3T fMRI study
Poster No:
57
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Tsai-Jing Yang1, ChengHsiang Tsai1, Chun-Chia Kung2, Ding-Ruey Yeh3
Institutions:
1National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Tainan, 2National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, 3National Central University, Taichung, Taichung
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Parental love knows no bounds. This love manifests in various behavioral aspects, such as parents watching animations or playing puzzle games together with their children. Bartels and Zeki (2004) proposed that the activation of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) is more pronounced in mothers when they see their own children compared to unfamiliar ones. This study emphasizes the pivotal role of PAG in the context of parental love, yet there is little exploration of parental love in the context of shopping. Knutson et al. (2007) used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to measure neural activation in participants during the shopping process. They found that the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and insula could predict human shopping decisions. In this study, we utilize fMRI to investigate the differences in the brain neural circuits of novice parents during shopping decisions.
Methods:
In this study, 45 subjects were recruited, of which 21 were fathers and 24 were mothers, aged between 25-40 years, all having children aged 2 to 5 years at the time of the scan. The shopping task involved a set of 400 pictures, including 200 items for children (equally split between boys and girls), 100 items for mothers, and 100 items for fathers. The father and mother subjects are tested separately (e.g., fathers were scanned in Tainan, whereas mothers were scanned in Taichung). The participants only saw pictures related to their own sex (e.g., fathers saw father-related items) and the sex of their child (e.g., fathers saw girl-related items), randomly appearing in the slow event-related fashion. In each 16-second trial, there were 8 seconds to decide whether to buy the presented item (with the picture and the price underneath). The data analysis involved both univariate (i.e., the General Linear Model) and multivariate (i.e., MVPA searchlight) analyses, applied to the SPM-preprocessed data. Additionally, logistic regression was employed to predict their shopping decisions.
Results:
The behavioral results showed that, as expected, both mothers and fathers exhibited a higher propensity to purchase items for their children and a lower inclination to buy for themselves: out of the 30% purchase rate, an average of 60-70% were for the children. When examining gender differences, parental love manifests differently in the male and female brain. GLM contrasts indicated that, while both parents activated similar brain regions when contrasting purchases for their children versus themselves, mothers exhibited a more extensive activation of cerebral areas compared to fathers. In contrast, the PAG was more activated in fathers, and was equally salient using both univariate and multivariate analyses (see Fig. 1). Logistic regression analysis further emphasized the predictive role of behavioral indicators, such as reaction time, product price, and product category (parent or children items), in purchasing decisions, as well as the significantly predictive roles of NAcc, MPFC, and PAG activities (Fig. 2). Lastly, parametric analysis with reaction times also showed significant modulation effects in MPFC (i.e., the longer the decision time, the stronger the MPFC activity), the core site of value computation, only when parents shopped for themselves, but not when parents shopped for their children.
·fig1. GLM result and MVPA result.
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·fig2. Logistic Regression Models Predicting Decisions to Purchase or Not
Conclusions:
In summary, our results revealed that (a) both mothers and fathers share a comparable dedication to expressing love, as evidenced by a willingness to invest more in their offspring and less in personal purchases; (b) via differential brain mechanisms, mothers exhibiting greater cerebral involvement and fathers showing relatively higher subcortical activities and higher subcortical-cortical connectivities, in purchasing behavior; (c) The PAG, NAcc, and MPFC effectively predicted parental shopping decisions; and (d) when buying for their children, parents are unconditional buyers; when buying for themselves, parents are rational shoppers.
Brain Stimulation:
Non-invasive Magnetic/TMS 1
Higher Cognitive Functions:
Decision Making 2
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI
Keywords:
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Other - parental love; first-time parents; periaqueductal gray; medial prefrontal cortex
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Knutson, B. (2007). 44 Neural predictors of purchases. Neuron, 53, 147-156.