Previous work suggests that infant cry perception is supported by an evolutionary old neural network consisting of the auditory system, the thalamocingulate circuit, the frontoinsular system, the reward pathway and the medial prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, gender and parenthood have been proposed to modulate processing of infant cries. The present meta-analysis (N = 350) confirmed involvement of the auditory system, the thalamocingulate circuit, the dorsal anterior insula, the pre-supplementary motor area and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and the inferior frontal gyrus in infant cry perception, but not of the reward pathway. Structures related to motoric processing, possibly supporting the preparation of a parenting response, were also involved. Finally, females (more than males) and parents (more than non-parents) recruited a cortico-limbic sensorimotor integration network, offering a neural explanation for previously observed enhanced processing of infant cries in these sub-groups. Based on the results, an updated neural model of infant cry perception is presented.

先前的工作表明，婴儿的哭声感知是由一个由听觉系统，丘脑平滑肌回路，额窦系统，奖励途径和内侧前额叶皮层组成的进化的旧神经网络支持的。此外，已经提出了性别和父母身份来调节婴儿哭声的处理。目前的荟萃分析（N = 350）证实婴儿啼哭感官涉及听觉系统，丘脑平滑肌回路，背侧前岛鞘，补充前运动区和背阔肌前额叶皮层和额下回。奖励途径。还涉及与运动过程有关的结构，可能支持育儿反应的准备。最后，女性（多于男性）和父母（多于非父母）招募了皮质-边缘感觉运动整合网络，为先前观察到的这些亚组中婴儿哭声的增强处理提供了神经学解释。基于结果，提出了婴儿哭声感知的更新神经模型。