Regional brain responses and psychological bases in young adults to emotional infant stimuli.

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24530831
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Tohoku Fukushi University
• Principal Investigator: NIWANO Katsuko 東北福祉大学, 教育学部, 教授 (30458202)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TSUBOKAWA Hiroshi 東北福祉大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (30227467) ; TANABE Motoko 東北福祉大学, 健康科学部, 講師 (30513618)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): OHUCHI Mayumi 東北福祉大学, 総合マネジメント学部, 准教授 (20296015) ; KUBOTA Mihoko 東京造形大学, 造形学部, 准教授 (20275605)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: NIRS / 乳児 / 表情認知 / 若年成人 / 親性発達 / IDS / 音響分析 / 脳機能計測

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study was to determine how a young adult’s brain responds to emotional infant stimuli. We utilized a near-infrared spectroscopy technique to investigate oxygenated hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal and temporal cortices of young adults while watching an infant facial expressions and producing infant-directed speech (IDS). Moreover, we examined the influences of infants’ moods on the brain activities of young adults. Twenty-four healthy young adults with no childcare experience participated in these inspection experiments. We assigned two kinds of activation tasks to them: watching infant’s facial expressions and producing IDS to an infant. We found that both of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex were more activated when the young adults were watching or speaking to infants in a good mood. These findings suggest that a young adult’s hemodynamic response in the prefrontal cortex strongly depends on the infant’s mood.

Free Research Field

発達心理学