2-121 - Early Caregiving Relationships and Children’s Brain Development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

One of the most influential notions in developmental psychology is that of experience-dependent brain development, which posits that environmental influences play an important role in brain development (Greenough et al., 1987). This notion suggests that early caregiving relationships could influence children’s brain development. Surprisingly, though, nearly all studies in this area are based on the study of child neglect or abuse, or on animal models. In line with the “Neuroscience and Child Development” area of emphasis for the 2017 meeting, we propose four studies from three countries that investigate the role of early caregiving experiences in children’s brain development. Study 1 finds that both attachment security and disorganization predict amygdala volumes in late childhood. Study 2 reports that maternal intrusive behavior predicts infant neural activity, but also that infant neural activity predicts subsequent maternal intrusiveness. Studies 3 and 4 also examine the functional implications of brain development: Study 3 reports that brain volumes mediate the associations between early parental sensitivity and girls’ prosocial tendencies, and Study 4 reveals that depressive symptoms among previously institutionalized youth are predicted by shortened telomeres and hypoactivity in the nucleus accumbens.

Strong features of this series of studies include consideration of both positive and negative indicators of caregiving quality, normative and high-risk populations, examination of brain structure and functioning, varied brain imaging techniques (EEG, MRI, fMRI), gold-standard measures of caregiving relationships, longitudinal designs, and examination of reciprocal and mediated associations. Together, the four talks provide rare support for the 30-year-old hypothesis of experience-dependent brain development.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Annie Bernier, University of Montreal

Individual Presentations

• Secure and Disorganized Attachment in Infancy: Prospective Associations with Brain Structure 9 Years Later. - Presenting Author: Miriam Beauchamp, University of Montreal; Elizabel Leblanc, University of Montreal; Véronique Daneault, University of Montreal; Annie Bernier, University of Montreal

• Transactional Associations between Maternal Intrusiveness and Infant Neural Functioning. - Presenting Author: Margaret M Swingler, UNC-Greensboro; Nicole B. Perry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Susan Calkins, University of North Carolina Greensboro; Martha Ann Bell, Virginia Tech

• Parental Sensitivity and Child Prosocial Behavior: Gender Differences in the Mediating Role of Brain Volume - Presenting Author: Rianne Kok, Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg, Leiden University; Henning Tiemeier, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC; Peter Prinzie, Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Marinus Van IJzendoorn, Leiden University

• Caregiver-Deprivation Related Depression is Predicted by Telomere Weathering and Nucleus Accumbens Hypoactivity - Presenting Author: Nim Tottenham, Columbia University; Bonnie Goff, University of California, Los Angeles