TY - JOUR
T1 - Fathers' involvement in early childcare is associated with amygdala resting-state connectivity
AU - Horstman, Lisa I.
AU - Riem, Madelon M.E.
AU - Alyousefi-van Dijk, Kim
AU - Lotz, Anna M.
AU - Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Becoming a parent requires new skills and frequent task switching during daily childcare. Little is known about the paternal brain during the transition to fatherhood. The present study examined intrinsic neuronal network connectivity in a group of first-time expectant and new fathers (total N = 131) using amygdala seed-based resting-state functional connectivity analysis. Furthermore, we examined the association between paternal involvement (i.e. hours spent in childcare and real-time push notifications on smartphone) and connectivity within the parental brain network in new fathers. There were no significant differences in functional connectivity between expectant and new fathers. However, results show that in new fathers, time spent in childcare was positively related to amygdala connectivity with the supramarginal gyrus, postcentral gyrus and the superior parietal lobule-all regions within the cognition/mentalizing network that have been associated with empathy and social cognition. Our results suggest that fathers' time investment in childcare is related to connectivity networks in the parental brain.
AB - Becoming a parent requires new skills and frequent task switching during daily childcare. Little is known about the paternal brain during the transition to fatherhood. The present study examined intrinsic neuronal network connectivity in a group of first-time expectant and new fathers (total N = 131) using amygdala seed-based resting-state functional connectivity analysis. Furthermore, we examined the association between paternal involvement (i.e. hours spent in childcare and real-time push notifications on smartphone) and connectivity within the parental brain network in new fathers. There were no significant differences in functional connectivity between expectant and new fathers. However, results show that in new fathers, time spent in childcare was positively related to amygdala connectivity with the supramarginal gyrus, postcentral gyrus and the superior parietal lobule-all regions within the cognition/mentalizing network that have been associated with empathy and social cognition. Our results suggest that fathers' time investment in childcare is related to connectivity networks in the parental brain.
KW - amygdala
KW - fathers
KW - paternal involvement
KW - pregnancy
KW - resting-state functional connectivity
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U2 - 10.1093/scan/nsab086
DO - 10.1093/scan/nsab086
M3 - Article
C2 - 34651177
AN - SCOPUS:85124634025
SN - 1749-5016
VL - 17
SP - 198
EP - 205
JO - Social cognitive and affective neuroscience
JF - Social cognitive and affective neuroscience
IS - 2
ER -