Introduction

The introduction provides a brief overview of the book, describing its three major themes: (a) the mechanisms through which the brain regulates parental behavior in nonhuman mammals and parental cognitions, emotions, and behavior in humans; (b) the experiential and genetic factors that affect the development of the parental brain, with a focus on the intergenerational continuity of normal and abnormal parental behavior; and (c) an evolutionary perspective based on the fact that maternal behavior is the most basic mammalian caregiving system. It is proposed that the parental brain served as a foundation upon which natural selection acted to result in the evolution of other forms of strong prosocial behaviors in mammals, including humans.

Development of the Parental Brain in Humans

The Parental Brain ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190848675.003.0010 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 310-352

Author(s):

Michael Numan

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Maternal Behavior ◽

Childhood Maltreatment ◽

Corticotropin Releasing Factor ◽

Neural Systems ◽

Gene By Environment Interactions ◽

Intergenerational Continuity ◽

History Of ◽

Maternal Motivation ◽

Chapter 10 deals with the development of the parental brain in humans, emphasizing experiential influences on the intergenerational continuity of maternal behavior: A history of experiencing childhood maltreatment (CMT; maternal neglect and/or abuse) is associated with alterations in the development of the child’s parental brain, which may lead to subsequent deficits in its maternal behavior. The manner in which parents treat their children may affect the development of neural systems (a) that regulate emotionality, with poor parental care resulting in deficits in emotion regulation, and (b) that underpin maternal motivation, love, and empathy, with poor parental care decreasing these processes. Alterations in the development of medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, mesolimbic dopamine, oxytocin, corticotropin-releasing factor, and serotonin neural systems are involved, as are epigenetic effects. Not all mothers who experience CMT become poor mothers, and the involvement of gene by environment interactions are highlighted.

Development of the Parental Brain in Nonhuman Mammals

The Parental Brain ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190848675.003.0009 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 279-309

Author(s):

Michael Numan

Keyword(s):

Maternal Behavior ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

Neural Systems ◽

Dopamine System ◽

Mesolimbic Dopamine System ◽

Maternal Treatment ◽

Gene By Environment Interactions ◽

Intergenerational Continuity ◽

Maternal Motivation ◽

Chapter 9 examines the development of the parental brain in animals, emphasizing that the way a mother treats her offspring affects their brain development and their subsequent maternal behavior, leading to an intergenerational continuity of maternal phenotypes. Two proposals are evaluated. First, maternal treatment influences the development of maternal motivation circuits in offspring. In support, the development of medial preoptic area projections to the mesolimbic dopamine system is affected. Second, maternal treatment influences the development of neural systems that regulate anxiety and stress reactivity in offspring. In support, the development of medial prefrontal cortex regulation of amygdala reactivity to stressful situations is affected. Deficient development of maternal motivation circuits may contribute to neglectful maternal behavior; deficient development of emotion regulation circuits may contribute to abusive maternal behavior. Epigenetics, particularly DNA methylation, and gene by environment interactions are involved in these processes.

The Parental Brain

10.1093/oso/9780190848675.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Michael Numan

Keyword(s):

Maternal Behavior ◽

Parental Behavior ◽

Mammalian Species ◽

Cortical Circuits ◽

Paternal Behavior ◽

Feeling States ◽

Alloparental Behavior ◽

Parental Brain ◽

Development And Evolution ◽

Epigenetic Processes

The Parental Brain: Mechanisms, Development, and Evolution takes a three-pronged approach to the parental brain. The first part of the book deals with neural mechanisms. Subcortical circuits are crucially involved in parental behavior, and, for most mammals, the physiological events of pregnancy and parturition prime these circuits so that they become responsive to infant stimuli, allowing for the onset of maternal behavior at parturition. However, since paternal behavior and alloparental behavior occur in some mammalian species, alternate mechanisms are shown to exist that regulate the access of infant stimuli to these circuits. In humans, cortical circuits interact with subcortical circuits so that parental feeling states (emotions) and cognitions can be translated into parental behavior. The section on development emphasizes the experiential basis of the intergenerational continuity of normal and abnormal maternal behavior in animals and humans: The way a mother treats her infant affects the development of the infant’s brain and subsequent maternal behavior. Genetic factors, including epigenetic processes and gene by environment (G × E) interactions, are also involved. The chapter on evolution presents evidence that the parental brain most likely provided the foundation or template for other strong prosocial bonds. In particular, cortical and subcortical parental brain circuits have probably been utilized by natural selection to promote the evolution of the hyper-cooperation and hyper-prosociality that exist in human social groups. A unique aspect of this book is its integration of animal and human research to create a complete understanding of the parental brain.

Parental response to baby cry involves brain circuits for negative emotion Distancing-Embracing

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x17001832 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

James E. Swain ◽

S. Shaun Ho

Keyword(s):

Social Cognitive ◽

Negative Emotion ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Risk And Resilience ◽

Brain Circuits ◽

Parental Response ◽

Art Form ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Brain ◽

AbstractThe “art form” of parent-infant bonding critically involves baby conveying negative emotions – literally compelling parents to respond and provide care. Current research on the brain basis of parenting is combining brain imaging with social, cognitive, and behavioral analyses to understand how parental brain circuits regulate thoughts and behavior in mental health, risk, and resilience. Understanding the parental brain may contribute to solving the long-standing paradox of self-sought hedonic exposure to negative emotions in art reception.

Review of Self-regulation of the Brain and Behavior.

Contemporary Psychology ◽

10.1037/023440 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 30 (12) ◽

pp. 999-999

Author(s):

Gerald S. Wasserman

Keyword(s):

Self Regulation ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior ◽

Pain, Gain, and the Brain: Chronic Pain, Disability, and Behavior Revisited

Contemporary Psychology ◽

10.1037/026309 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 33 (12) ◽

pp. 1043-1044

Author(s):

J. Scott Richards

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Pain Disability ◽

And Behavior ◽

Individual Uniqueness in the Neonatal Functional Connectome

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhab041 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Qiushi Wang ◽

Yuehua Xu ◽

Tengda Zhao ◽

Zhilei Xu ◽

Yong He ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Individual Identification ◽

Imaging Data ◽

Functional Connectome ◽

Middle Range ◽

Human Connectome Project ◽

The Individual ◽

And Behavior ◽

Identification Analysis ◽

Abstract The functional connectome is highly distinctive in adults and adolescents, underlying individual differences in cognition and behavior. However, it remains unknown whether the individual uniqueness of the functional connectome is present in neonates, who are far from mature. Here, we utilized the multiband resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 40 healthy neonates from the Developing Human Connectome Project and a split-half analysis approach to characterize the uniqueness of the functional connectome in the neonatal brain. Through functional connectome-based individual identification analysis, we found that all the neonates were correctly identified, with the most discriminative regions predominantly confined to the higher-order cortices (e.g., prefrontal and parietal regions). The connectivities with the highest contributions to individual uniqueness were primarily located between different functional systems, and the short- (0–30 mm) and middle-range (30–60 mm) connectivities were more distinctive than the long-range (>60 mm) connectivities. Interestingly, we found that functional data with a scanning length longer than 3.5 min were able to capture the individual uniqueness in the functional connectome. Our results highlight that individual uniqueness is present in the functional connectome of neonates and provide insights into the brain mechanisms underlying individual differences in cognition and behavior later in life.

Crosstalk between Existential Phenomenological Psychotherapy and Neurological Sciences in Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Biomedicines ◽

10.3390/biomedicines9040340 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 340

Author(s):

Lehel Balogh ◽

Masaru Tanaka ◽

Nóra Török ◽

László Vécsei ◽

Shigeru Taguchi

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Biological Treatment ◽

Sense Of Self ◽

Phenomenological Approach ◽

Neurological Damage ◽

Mood And Anxiety Disorders ◽

New Interpretation ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Impact ◽

Psychotherapy is a comprehensive biological treatment modifying complex underlying cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and regulatory responses in the brain, leading patients with mental illness to a new interpretation of the sense of self and others. Psychotherapy is an art of science integrated with psychology and/or philosophy. Neurological sciences study the neurological basis of cognition, memory, and behavior as well as the impact of neurological damage and disease on these functions, and their treatment. Both psychotherapy and neurological sciences deal with the brain; nevertheless, they continue to stay polarized. Existential phenomenological psychotherapy (EPP) has been in the forefront of meaning-centered counseling for almost a century. The phenomenological approach in psychotherapy originated in the works of Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Binswanger, Medard Boss, and Viktor Frankl, and it has been committed to accounting for the existential possibilities and limitations of one’s life. EPP provides philosophically rich interpretations and empowers counseling techniques to assist mentally suffering individuals by finding meaning and purpose to life. The approach has proven to be effective in treating mood and anxiety disorders. This narrative review article demonstrates the development of EPP, the therapeutic methodology, evidence-based accounts of its curative techniques, current understanding of mood and anxiety disorders in neurological sciences, and a possible converging path to translate and integrate meaning-centered psychotherapy and neuroscience, concluding that the EPP may potentially play a synergistic role with the currently prevailing medication-based approaches for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders.