Background: While numerous studies have demonstrated maternal depression’s influence on infant brain development, few studies have examined the changes that occur as a consequence of co-occurring experiential factors that affect quality of mother and infant affectionate touch as well as infant temperament and neurophysiological systems. The aim of the study was to examine the interactive effects of maternal depression and breastfeeding on mother and infant affectionate touch and infant temperament and cortical maturation patterns across early development. Methods: 113 mothers and their infants participated when infants were 1 and 3 months of age. Questionnaires to assess maternal depressive symptoms, feeding, and temperament were completed. Tonic EEG patterns (asymmetry and left and right activity) were collected and the dyads were video-recorded during feeding to assess mother and infant affectionate touch patterns. Results: Data analysis showed that EEG activity and mother-infant affectionate touch differed as a function of mood and feeding method. Notably, only infants of depressed mothers that bottle-fed showed right frontal EEG asymmetry and attenuated change in the left frontal region across 3 months. Breastfeeding positively impacted affectionate touch behaviors and was associated with increased left and decreased right frontal EEG activation even for depressed groups. Furthermore, a model incorporating physiology, maternal depression, touch, temperament, and feeding indicated significant prediction for infant affectionate touch (with breastfeeding and affectively positive temperament demonstrating the strongest prediction). Con­clusion: The findings suggest that breastfeeding and the infant’s positive temperament influence mother-infant affectionate touch patterns and result in neuroprotective outcomes for infants, even those exposed to maternal depression within early development.
Neuropsychobiology

中文翻译：

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母乳喂养和母亲抑郁背景下的深情触摸影响婴儿神经发育和气质基质

背景：虽然许多研究已经证明母亲抑郁症对婴儿大脑发育的影响，但很少有研究检查由于共同发生的经验因素而发生的变化，这些因素会影响母婴深情触摸的质量以及婴儿的气质和神经生理系统。该研究的目的是检查母亲抑郁和母乳喂养对早期发育过程中母亲和婴儿深情触摸、婴儿气质和皮质成熟模式的交互影响。方法：113 位母亲和她们的婴儿在婴儿 1 个月和 3 个月大时参与了研究。完成了评估产妇抑郁症状、喂养和气质的问卷调查。收集强直脑电图模式（不对称和左右活动），并在喂食期间对二元组进行视频录制，以评估母婴深情的触摸模式。结果：数据分析表明，脑电图活动和母婴深情触摸因情绪和喂养方法而异。值得注意的是，只有奶瓶喂养的抑郁母亲的婴儿在 3 个月内表现出右额叶脑电图不对称和减弱的左额叶区域变化。母乳喂养对深情的触摸行为产生积极影响，并且即使对于抑郁人群也与左额叶脑电图激活增加和右额叶脑电图激活减少有关。此外，一个包含生理学、母亲抑郁、触觉、气质和喂养的模型表明对婴儿深情触觉的显着预测（母乳喂养和情感积极的气质表现出最强的预测）。结论：研究结果表明，母乳喂养和婴儿的积极气质会影响母婴深情的触摸模式，并导致婴儿的神经保护结果，即使是那些在早期发育中暴露于母亲抑郁症的婴儿。
神经心理生物学