A Functional MRI Study of Mother-Infant Attachment

描述(申请人提供)：母婴关系被描述为影响人类物种健康和发展的最重要的关系之一。当这种关系涉及虐待或忽视儿童时，它与认知和学习延迟、精神疾病、社交障碍和犯罪有关。然而，人们对这种依恋关系背后的神经内分泌过程知之甚少。 这个职业发展奖的长期目标是：1.探索母婴依恋的神经生物学基础，包括神经解剖学和神经内分泌相关性；2.探索这些过程的中断是否可能与儿童忽视和成长失败有关；3.更好地了解缺乏安全感或组织混乱的依恋如何可能有助于儿童的认知和情感发展。 这项研究的目标是：1.确定母婴依恋的功能神经解剖学相关性，测量母亲对婴儿面部暗示的功能磁共振反应；2.确定母亲与婴儿相关的应激反应的差异，测量血液中催产素、皮质醇和儿茶酚胺的顺序水平；3.使用镜像交互情景确定母婴应急反应的差异；4.使用成人依恋访谈和8个月后的奇异情况程序，确定母婴依恋分类之间的相关性。 60名第一次惯用右手的母亲和她们8个月大(+/-1个月)的足月婴儿将参加这项研究。母亲的依恋分类将通过成人依恋面谈来确定。血清催产素、皮质醇和儿茶酚胺水平将按顺序从母亲那里获得，在标准化的母婴互动期间，镜面互动的情况。在此期间，将对婴儿的面部表情和母婴互动模式进行录像，并随后进行分析。然后，血氧水平依赖功能磁共振成像(BOLD-fMRI)将被用来测量母亲的大脑对婴儿面部暗示的反应，将她自己的婴儿与未知的婴儿面部图像进行比较。婴儿依恋将在8个月后使用奇异情况程序进行评估。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The mother-infant relationship has been characterized as one of the most important relationships affecting the health and development of the human species. When that relationship involves child abuse or neglect, it is associated with cognitive and academic delays, psychiatric illness, social impairment and delinquency. However, little is known about the neuroendocrine processes underlying this attachment relationship. The long-term objectives of this career development award are: 1. To explore the neurobiological basis of mother-infant attachment, including neuroanatomical and neuroendocrine correlates; 2. To explore whether a disruption in these processes may be associated with child neglect and failure-to-thrive; and 3. To better understand how insecure or disorganized attachment may contribute to impaired cognitive and emotional development in children. The aims of the research proposal are: 1. To identify functional neuroanatomical correlates of mother-infant attachment, measuring maternal functional MRI responses to infant facial cues; 2. To identify differences in mothers' infant-related stress responses, measuring sequential levels of blood oxytocin, cortisol and catecholamines; 3. To determine defferences in mother-infant contingency responses, using the Mirror Interaction Situation; and 4. To determine the degree of correlation between maternal and infant attachment classifications, using the Adult Attachment Interview on study entry, and the Strange Situation procedure 8 months later. Sixty right-handed first-time mothers will be enrolled in the study, along with their full-term infants, aged 8 months (+/- 1 month). The mother's attachment classification will be determined using the Adult Attachment Interview. Serum oxytocin, cortisol and catecholamine levels will be obtained sequentially from the mothers during a standardized period of mother-infant interaction, the Mirror Interaction Situation. During this time, infant facial expressions and patterns of mother-infant interaction will be videotaped and subsequently analysed. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent functional MRI (BOLD-fMRI) will then be used to measure maternal brain responses to infant facial cues, comparing her own infant with unknown infant facial images. Infant attachment will be assessed 8 months later using the Strange Situation procedure.