TY - JOUR
T1 - As tears go by
T2 - Baby tears trigger more brain activity than adult tears in nulliparous women
AU - Riem, M.M.E.
AU - De Carli, P.
AU - van IJzendoorn, M.H.
AU - Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M.
AU - Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The current functional magnetic resonance imaging study examines brain activity during the perception of infant and adult tears. Infant tears evoke stronger responses in the visual cortex than adult tears, indicating that infant tears are highly salient. In addition, our study shows that infant tears uniquely activate somatosensory pain regions, which could stimulate actions directed at the elimination of the source of pain. Shedding tears may be a strong means to elicit the parent’s sharing of the infant’s feelings, thereby strengthening caregiver-infant bonding and securing infant survival.
AB - The current functional magnetic resonance imaging study examines brain activity during the perception of infant and adult tears. Infant tears evoke stronger responses in the visual cortex than adult tears, indicating that infant tears are highly salient. In addition, our study shows that infant tears uniquely activate somatosensory pain regions, which could stimulate actions directed at the elimination of the source of pain. Shedding tears may be a strong means to elicit the parent’s sharing of the infant’s feelings, thereby strengthening caregiver-infant bonding and securing infant survival.
U2 - 10.1080/17470919.2016.1247012
DO - 10.1080/17470919.2016.1247012
M3 - Article
C2 - 27728997
SN - 1747-0919
VL - 12
SP - 633
EP - 636
JO - Social Neuroscience
JF - Social Neuroscience
IS - 6
ER -