Pregnancy, childbirth and caregiving alter functional connectivity in response to infant faces

Abstract Background Maternal experiences, including pregnancy, childbirth and caregiving, profoundly shape neural responses to infant cues. To elucidate the underlying network mechanisms, this study used functional MRI to examine how such experiences modulate regional brain activity and functional connectivity (FC) in response to infant faces. Results Compared to never-pregnant women (n = 27), primiparous postpartum mothers (n = 29) demonstrated stronger FC between face perception areas and the theory of mind network via the anterior insular cortex while viewing unfamiliar infant faces, accompanied by enhanced activation in related regions. Viewing their own nurtured infant's image further strengthened FC among face perception, episodic memory and affective theory of mind networks, including regions of the dopamine reward system, although connectivity with the temporoparietal junction was weaker. Theory of mind- and reward-related regions also showed greater activation when viewing nurtured versus unfamiliar infant faces. Conclusions These findings suggest that maternal experiences amplify neural responsiveness to infant faces by engaging interconnected social cognition, memory and reward processing networks.