Observing baby or sexual videos changes the functional synchronization between the prefrontal and parietal cortices in mothers in different postpartum periods

ABSTRACT

During the postpartum period (PP), mothers are more sensitive to sensory stimuli related to babies and less sensitive to those with sexual significance. The processing of emotional stimuli requires synchronization among different cerebral areas. This study characterized the cortical electroencephalographic (EEG) correlation in mothers from 1½ to 3 months (PP1), 4 to 5½ months (PP2) and over 6½ months, postpartum (PP3) while observing two videos: one of a baby (BV) and one with sexual content (SV). EEGs were recorded from the frontopolar, dorsolateral and parietal cortices. All three groups rated the BV as pleasant, but only PP3 reported higher sexual arousal with the SV. While watching the BV, PP1 showed a higher correlation among all cortical areas; PP2 manifested a decreased correlation between the prefrontal and parietal cortices, likely associated with the lower emotional modulation of the BV; and PP3 presented a higher synchronization among fewer cortical areas, probably related to longer maternal experience. These cortical synchronization patterns could represent adaptive mechanisms that enable the adequate processing of baby stimuli in new mothers. These data increase our knowledge of the cerebral processes associated with distinct sensitivities to the emotional stimuli that mothers experience during the PP.

KEYWORDS:

• EEG correlation
• postpartum
• breastfeeding mothers
• prefrontal cortex
• baby stimuli
• sexual stimuli

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not recieve any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-ptofit secotrs, Rosa María Hidalgo Aguirre was supported by a graduate fellowship by the Mexican Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).