Exposure to severe stress has been linked to negative postpartum outcomes among new mothers including mood disorders and harsh parenting. Non-human animal studies show that stress exposure disrupts the normative adaptation of the maternal brain, thus identifying a neurobiological mechanism by which stress can lead to negative maternal outcomes. However, little is known about the impact of stress exposure on the maternal brain response to infant cues in human mothers. We examined the association of stress exposure with brain response to infant cries and maternal behaviors, in a socioeconomically diverse (low- and middle-income) sample of first-time mothers (N=53). Exposure to stress across socioeconomic, environmental, and psychosocial domains was associated with reduced brain response to infant cry sounds in several regions, including the right insula/inferior frontal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus. Reduced activation in these regions was further associated with lower maternal sensitivity observed during a mother-infant interaction. The findings demonstrate that higher levels of stress exposure may be associated with reduced brain response to an infant's cry in regions that are important for emotional and social information processing, and that reduced brain responses may further be associated with increased difficulties in developing positive mother-infant relationships.

中文翻译：

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压力暴露与新妈妈对婴儿哭声的大脑反应之间的关联

承受严重压力与新妈妈的负面产后结果有关，包括情绪障碍和严厉的养育方式。非人类动物研究表明，压力暴露会破坏母体大脑的规范适应，从而确定压力会导致母体负面结果的神经生物学机制。然而，关于压力暴露对人类母亲对婴儿线索的母亲大脑反应的影响知之甚少。我们在社会经济多样化（低收入和中等收入）的初产妈妈样本（N=53）中研究了压力暴露与大脑对婴儿哭声和母亲行为的反应之间的关联。暴露于社会经济、环境和社会心理领域的压力与大脑对几个区域婴儿哭声的反应降低有关，包括右脑岛/额下回和颞上回。这些区域的激活减少进一步与母婴互动期间观察到的母体敏感性降低有关。研究结果表明，在对情绪和社会信息处理很重要的区域，较高水平的压力暴露可能与大脑对婴儿哭声的反应减弱有关，而大脑反应减弱可能进一步与培养积极母婴的难度增加有关。关系。