Behavioural and Neural Correlates of Attention Bias to Infant Cues as Predictors of Parenting from Pregnancy to Postpartum

Infant cues (e.g., faces and vocalizations) constitute powerful signals that bias adult attention. Research on the neuroanatomy of parenting primarily examines neural biases to passive viewing of or listening to target infant cues, with enhanced activations to infant versus non–infant cues seen in parents compared to non–parents. In contrast, behavioural paradigms present infant cues as task–irrelevant distractors during conflict tasks. While these studies suggest that infant cues capture attention and disrupt executive control, investigations into more specific types of neurocognitive processes affected by this bias are limited. Importantly, both neuroimaging and behavioural research suggests that heightened bias to infant cues is linked to more sensitive mothering. However, this work is largely specific to the postpartum period and does not address potential changes in infant bias during the transition from pregnancy to motherhood. Using event–related potentials (ERPs) one objective of this thesis was to establish how attention bias to distractor infant vocal cues modulates adult cognition and cortical activity (P2, N450) during a conflict task (Stroop) in non–parents (Study 1) and in pregnant mothers and non–mothers (Study 2). Whether variations in this bias during pregnancy predict the strength of the mother–infant bond was additionally addressed (Study 2). Subsequently, Study 3 determined how attention bias to distractor infant facial cues influences cognition and face–sensitive encoding (N170) during a conflict task (go/no go) in pregnant mothers and non–mothers, and whether a heightened bias during pregnancy predicts sensitive mother–infant interactions. A final objective was to explore prenatal to postnatal changes in cortical responses to target infant and adult facial cues (P1, P2, N170, LPP) and determine whether mothers’ individual differences in cortical change predict the strength of the mother–infant bond (Study 4). Overall, this thesis represents a step forward in identifying the mechanisms related to parenting.Ph.D