A PILOT STUDY OF OXYTOCIN REACTIVITY AND FUNCTIONAL MRI

本子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的众多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能已经从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。列出的机构是中心的，不一定是研究者的机构。母婴关系被认为是影响人类健康和发展的最重要的关系之一。当这种关系涉及儿童虐待或忽视时，它与后代的各种不良神经发育结果有关，包括认知和学业迟缓、精神疾病、社会障碍和犯罪。然而，为了理解儿童虐待和忽视背后的神经生物学，定义正常母婴关系的本质是很重要的。最近的功能磁共振成像研究显示了不同的神经元激活模式，测量了母亲对婴儿哭声的反应。被激活的大脑区域包括右侧内侧前额叶和眶额皮质、内侧丘脑、扣带皮质和其他在动物模型中显示与母性行为相关的区域。在观察婴儿和恋人的脸时，以及与亲密关系有关的悲伤情绪时，也可以看到类似的激活模式。这些发现表明，可能存在一个与社会依恋和隶属关系相关的共同神经基质。面部识别和处理被认为在社会交流中起着至关重要的作用，在婴儿期早期神经发育的关键阶段就已经形成。这项研究的目的是更清楚地定义母亲看到婴儿的脸时的情绪反应所激活的大脑区域。动物研究也证实，中枢催产素系统促进大鼠母性行为的发生和维持。动物的催产素受体已经在大脑的几个区域和核中被发现，这与人类对母性行为的fMRI研究一致。然而，目前尚不清楚外周催产素浓度是否反映中枢活动，动物模型表明并非如此。Light等人最近发表的一篇论文表明，在母婴互动后，外周催产素对压力的反应最为突出。据推测，至少在母亲的一个亚组中，催产素的产生会受到母婴互动的刺激，而这些变化与功能磁共振成像活动水平有关。此外，这项对健康、稳定的母亲的初步研究可能会导致对忽视母亲的进一步研究，以便更好地了解忽视的病理生理基础。作为最常见的虐待儿童形式，在美国每年有超过54万的确凿案例，需要进一步的研究。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. 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 a diverse range of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in the offspring, including cognitive and academic delays, psychiatric illness, social impairment and delinquency. However, in order to understand the neurobiology underlying child abuse and neglect, it is important to define the nature of normal mother-infant relationships. Recent fMRI studies have demonstrated distinctive patterns of neuronal activation, measuring maternal response to infant cries. Activated brain areas include the right medial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, medial thalamus, cingulate cortex and other areas shown in animal models to be associated with maternal behavior. Similar patterns of activation have also been seen on viewing faces of infants and romantic partners, and with induced feelings of sadness relating to intimate relationships. These findings suggest that there may be a common neural substrate relating to social attachment and affiliation. Facial recognition and processing is thought to have a vital role in social communication, being imprinted during a critical phase of neural development in early infancy. This study aims to more clearly define the brain areas activated by a mother's emotional response to viewing her infant's face. Animal research has also established that the central oxytocinergic system facilitates the onset and maintenance of maternal behavior in rats. Oxytocin receptors in animals have been identified in several brain regions and nuclei consistent with human fMRI studies of maternal behavior. However, it is still unclear whether peripheral oxytocin concentrations are reflective of central activity, with animal models suggesting otherwise. A recent paper by Light et al., demonstrated that a peripheral oxytocin response to stress was most prominent after mother-infant interaction. It is hypothesized that - at least in a subgroup of mothers - oxytocin production will be stimulated by mother-infant interaction, and that these changes will correlate with fMRI activity levels. In addition, this pilot study of healthy, stable mothers may lead to further study of neglecting mothers, in order to better understand the pathophysiology underlying neglect. As the most common form of child maltreatment, with over 540,000 substantiated cases each year in the United States, further research is needed.