Neural Representation of Maternal Face Processing: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Objective: The mother-child relationship may have important implications for emotional development and adult psychopathology. The objective of this study was to examine brain responses to processing maternal faces in healthy adult women. Methods: Ten healthy adult female volunteers with adequate early-life maternal care and a normal relationship with their living mothers participated in the study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine brain responses to pictures of the subject's mother, a close female friend, and 2 age-matched female strangers during passive viewing, valence (emotional), and salience (self-relevance) evaluations. Results: The main contrast of mother, compared with all others (that is, friend and older and younger strangers), demonstrated the following: first, significant activation in the left posterior cingulate cortex-precuneus (PCC-Pcu), collapsed across all tasks; second, right ventromedial prefrontal cortex-anterior cingulate cortex (VMPFC-ACC) activation during the valence condition; and third, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activation during the salience condition. In the region-of-interest analyses, the VMPFC-ACC and DLPFC showed significant activations in response to mothers' faces and deactivation in response to control faces. Among the 3 regions, only VMPFC-ACC activity distinguished the unique processing of one's own mother's face from that of a close friend. PCC-Pcu activations demonstrated a graded response (mother > friend > strangers) and, further, demonstrated differential response with respect to mothering style. Conclusions: The activation in prefrontal and cingulate cortices related to maternal face processing is consistent with their implicated roles in mother-infant interactions, personal familiarity, and emotional and self-relevant processing. These findings suggest a neural basis for maternal attachment and propose a focus for future studies aimed at investigating the impact of disrupted maternal attachment on emotional development. (Can J Psychiatry 2007;52;726-734) Information on funding and support and author affiliations appears at the end of the article. Clinical Implications * This is the first fMRI study to examine the neural representation of maternal face processing in adults in the context of early-life maternal care. * Mother-responsive brain regions in adults overlap with the neural systems for mother-infant interactions, emotional regulation, and autobiographical memories. * These findings provide a neural basis for future studies of the impact of disruptions in early-life maternal care on human behaviour. Limitations * This is an exploratory study involving a small sample size of women. * Because of recall biases, there are potential sources of error in retrospective self-report of childhood experiences. * Subjects with low maternal care were not included in the study. Key Words: maternal care, functional brain imaging, cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex The long-standing nature-nurture debate has evolved into an empirically based understanding that social and emotional experiences, especially early in an organism's life, interact with genetic disposition in determining health and adaptation throughout the lifespan.1 In particular, the quality of the mother-child relationship is a critical ontogenetic factor that serves as a regulator of the child's social and emotional experiences throughout development. It has been suggested that a sense of maternal security or attachment throughout development is necessary for normal development and appropriate evaluation of, and response to, social or other environmental cues later in life.1-3 Thus it has been suggested that a disturbed relationship between mother and child-for example, one characterized by loss, separation, lack of care, neglect, or abuse-leads to abnormal development of the child, resulting in maladaptation and ultimately, disease. …