Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Crying Baby Draws Blunted Response in Depressed Mom’s Brain
Mothers who are depressed respond differently to their crying babies than do non-depressed moms. In fact, their reaction, according to brain scans at the University of Oregon, is much more muted than the robust brain activity in non-depressed moms.
Crying by infants is a normal occurrence, but how mothers respond can affect a child’s development, says Jennifer C. Ablow, professor of psychology. For years, Ablow has studied the relationship of behavior and physiological responses such as heart rate and respiration of mothers, both depressed and not, when they respond to their infants’ crying.
A new study—online in advance of publication in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience —provides the first look at brain activity of depressed women responding to recordings of crying infants, either their own or someone else’s. The brains of 22 women were scrutinized using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Non-invasive fMRI, when focused on the brain, measures blood flow changes using a magnetic field and radio frequency pulses, producing detailed images that provide scientists with information about brain activity or help medical staff diagnose disease.
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