Human fathers often form strong attachments to their infants that contribute to positive developmental outcomes. However, fathers are also the most common perpetrators of infant abuse, and infant crying is a known trigger. Research on parental brain responses to infant crying have typically employed passive listening paradigms. However, parents usually engage with crying infants. Therefore, we examined the neural responses of 20 new fathers to infant cries both while passively listening, and while actively attempting to console the infant by selecting soothing strategies in a video game format. Compared with passive listening, active responding robustly activated brain regions involved in movement, empathy and approach motivation, and deactivated regions involved in stress and anxiety. Fathers reporting more frustration had less activation in basal forebrain areas and in brain areas involved with emotion regulation (e.g., prefrontal cortex and the supplementary motor area). Successful consolation of infant crying activated regions involved in both action-outcome learning and parental caregiving (anterior and posterior cingulate cortex). Overall, results suggest that active responding to infant cries amplifies activation in many brain areas typically activated during passive listening. Additionally, paternal frustration during active responding may involve a combination of low approach motivation and low engagement of emotion regulation.

中文翻译：

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父亲安慰行为和对婴儿哭闹的挫败感的神经相关性

人类父亲经常对他们的婴儿形成强烈的依恋，这有助于积极的发展成果。然而，父亲也是虐待婴儿最常见的肇事者，婴儿哭闹是一个已知的诱因。对父母大脑对婴儿哭闹反应的研究通常采用被动倾听范式。然而，父母通常会与哭闹的婴儿互动。因此，我们检查了 20 位新父亲对婴儿哭声的神经反应，这些反应既包括被动倾听，也包括通过选择电子游戏形式的安抚策略来积极尝试安慰婴儿。与被动聆听相比，主动反应强烈激活了与运动、同理心和接近动机有关的大脑区域，而与压力和焦虑有关的大脑区域则被停用了。报告更多挫败感的父亲在基底前脑区域和涉及情绪调节的大脑区域（例如，前额叶皮层和辅助运动区域）的激活较少。婴儿哭闹激活区域的成功安慰涉及行动结果学习和父母照顾（前扣带回皮层和后扣带回）。总体而言，结果表明，对婴儿哭声的主动反应会放大许多大脑区域的激活，这些区域通常在被动聆听期间被激活。此外，主动回应期间的父亲挫败感可能涉及低接近动机和低参与情绪调节的组合。婴儿哭闹激活区域的成功安慰涉及行动结果学习和父母照顾（前扣带回皮层和后扣带回）。总体而言，结果表明，对婴儿哭声的主动反应会放大许多大脑区域的激活，这些区域通常在被动聆听期间被激活。此外，主动回应期间的父亲挫败感可能涉及低接近动机和低参与情绪调节的组合。婴儿哭闹激活区域的成功安慰涉及行动结果学习和父母照顾（前扣带回皮层和后扣带回）。总体而言，结果表明，对婴儿哭声的主动反应会放大许多大脑区域的激活，这些区域通常在被动聆听期间被激活。此外，主动回应期间的父亲挫败感可能涉及低接近动机和低参与情绪调节的组合。