Maternal engagement is associated with differences in infants’ brain and attentional responses to threat

• In Event: Social development in infancy: Neural, behavioral, and cognitive influences across the first year of life

Abstract

Humans allocate greater attentional resources to visual threat cues such as angry faces (e.g., Öhman, 2003), a bias that is present by late infancy, with 8-to 14-month-olds shown to fixate more quickly on angry than happy faces (LoBue & DeLoache, 2010). At a neural level, among adults, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) has been implicated in emotion regulation including during angry face processing (e.g., d’Alfonso et al., 2000; Ochsner & Gross, 2005). Recent accounts stipulate reduced threat responding in the context of a trusted supportive partner (Coan & Sbarra, 2015; Callaghan & Tottenham, 2016). This proposal has not yet been examined in infancy for the context of caregiving.

We therefore examined whether the context of having a supportive caregiver is associated with differences in infants’ brain and attentional responses to threat. Eighty infant-caregiver dyads participated in a free-play session when infants were 5 months old. We coded for supportive caregiver behavior in the form of maternal engagement—the caregiver’s talking, close proximity, positive affect, and attention to the infant. At 7 months, infant dlPFC responses were measured using fNIRS while infants viewed visual dynamic happy, angry, and fearful emotional facial expressions. Afterward, using eyetracking, we measured infants’ latency to fixate on the eye region of happy, angry, and fearful faces when each was placed opposite a neutral face.

FNIRS analyses revealed an emotion x maternal engagement interaction within the left dlPFC, F(2, 156) = 3.43, p = 0.035, with a positive association between maternal engagement and left dlPFC response to angry faces (B = 1.81, t = 2.47, p = 0.016), but not fearful or happy faces. No effects were found within the right dlPFC. This further illustrate this effect, as a follow-up analysis we divided infants into three maternal engagement groups: Least Engaged (N = 26), Engaged (N = 28), and Most Engaged (N = 26). Independent t-tests revealed that the Least Engaged group showed significantly greater reduction in Oxy-Hb concentration change within the left dlPFC to angry faces when compared to the Most Engaged group (t(50) = -2.19, p = 0.033; see Figure 1).

Eyetracking analyses also revealed an emotion x maternal engagement interaction, F(2, 142) = 3.60, p = 0.03, with a negative association between maternal engagement and latency to fixate on angry eyes (B = -0.21, t = -3.21, p = 0.002), but not fearful or happy eyes. Independent t-tests showed the Least Engaged group was slower to fixate on angry eyes compared to the Most Engaged group (equal variances not assumed: t(25.65) = 2.34, p = 0.028; see Figure 2).

In summary, young infants’ brain and attentional responses to threat vary as a function of caregiver context: infants with less engaged mothers showed reduced activity in brain regions supporting neuroregulatory and attentional control in response to angry faces and visual avoidance of angry eyes. These results point to a role for maternal behavioral context in shaping the development of threat perception.

Authors

• Cat Thrasher, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Kathleen Krol, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tobias Grossmann, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author