Distinctive Frontal and Occipitotemporal Surface Features in Neglectful Parenting.

Inmaculada León,María José Rodrigo,Ileana Quiñones,Lorna García-Pentón,Juan Andrés Hernández-Cabrera

doi:10.3390/brainsci11030387

Abstract

Although the brain signatures of adaptive human parenting are well documented, the cortical features associated with maladaptive caregiving are underexplored. We investigated whether cortical thickness and surface area vary in a small group of mothers who had neglected their children (24 in the neglect group, NG) compared to a control group of mothers with non-neglectful caregiving (21 in the control group, CG). We also tested whether the cortical differences were related to dyadic mother-child emotional availability (EA) in a play task with their children and whether alexithymia involving low emotional awareness that characterizes the NG could play a role in the cortical-EA associations. Whole-brain analysis of the cortical mantle identified reduced cortical thickness in the right rostral middle frontal gyrus and an increased surface area in the right lingual and lateral occipital cortices for the NG with respect to the CG. Follow-up path analysis showed direct effects of the right rostral middle frontal gyrus (RMFG) on the emotional availability (EA) and on the difficulty to identify feelings (alexithymia factor), with a marginal indirect RMFG-EA effect through this factor. These preliminary findings extend existing work by implicating differences in cortical features associated with neglectful parenting and relevant to mother-child interactive bonding.

Highlights

IntroductionMost parents can respond appropriately to their child’s needs, extreme cases of insensitive caregiving do exist
The cluster (p = 0.014, Table 3 upper and Figure 1) spanned several contiguous anatomical regions in the right hemisphere, involving the right rostral middle frontal gyrus (RMFG) and the lateral and medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), which corresponds to the frontal regions previously hypothesized
Adults exposed to childhood maltreatment, which is the case in mothers with neglectful caregiving, had less cortical thickness in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the pericalcarine cortex related to the perpetration of physical aggression [47]

Summary

Introduction

Most parents can respond appropriately to their child’s needs, extreme cases of insensitive caregiving do exist. Neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment, which involves a drastic failure to provide the child with food, clothing, shelter, medical care, supervision, or emotional support that places the child’s safety at risk [1,2]. Being severely neglected entails negative behavioral, neurobiological, and clinical consequences for the child [3,4]. The brain signatures of adaptive parenting are well documented (e.g., [5]), the neural mechanisms associated with neglectful caregiving are comparatively less studied. Identifying the cortical features linked to neglectful behavior could be relevant to better understanding the cycle of maladaptive parenting

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion