Open AccessSynchronous caregiving from birth to adulthood tunes humans’ social brain
Author(s) -
Adi Ulmer-Yaniv,
Roy Salomon,
Shani Waidergoren,
Ortal Shimon-Raz,
Amir Djalovski,
Ruth Feldman
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2012900118
Subject(s) - empathy , psychology , amygdala , developmental psychology , ventromedial prefrontal cortex , mentalization , insula , brain activity and meditation , interoception , salience (neuroscience) , prosocial behavior , prefrontal cortex , neuroimaging , neuroscience , cognition , electroencephalography , social psychology , perception
Significance A birth-to-adulthood study tested the effects of maternal–newborn contact and synchronous caregiving on the social processing brain in human adults. For two decades, we followed preterm and full-term neonates, who received or lacked initial maternal bodily contact, repeatedly observing mother–child social synchrony. We measured the brain basis of affect-specific empathy in young adulthood to pinpoint regions sensitive to others’ distinct emotions. Maternal–newborn contact enhanced social synchrony across development, which, in turn, predicted amygdalar and insular sensitivity to emotion-specific empathy. Findings demonstrate the long-term effects of maternal caregiving in humans, similar to their role in other mammals, particularly in tuning core regions implicated in salience detection, simulation, and interoception that sustain empathy and human attachment.