هم‌‌آوایی عصبی مادر_ کودک: تأثیر جنسیت و موقعیت (رقابت/مشارکت): یک مطالعه هم زمان طیف‌‌نگاری کارکردی نزدیک فروسرخ مقاله

چکیده:

Introduction Parent-child biobehavioral synchrony is a parenting phenomenon demonstrating howancient survival-related structures have integrated into the complex networks of human brain over evolution. This phenomenon can be observed at a behavioral level (gaze, touch, and playing), at a physiological level (e.g., heartbeat rhythm), and at a neural level (brain synchrony). Inter-personal neural synchrony is defined as the similar and concurrent brain activation patternsbetween the two parties, correlated with behavioral synchrony and efficient relationship between the two. It has been proposed to be a result of the transition of verbal and non-verbal information between two people. The importance of parent-child neural synchrony is linked to the “predictability” aspect being a critical factor in child care. Frontotemporal regions of the brain, playing an essential role in socio-cognitive processing, are a potential neural region of synchrony during social interaction between two people. Brain-to-brain synchrony in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) area, such as the superior PFC and dorsolateral PFC, is related to various positive interpersonal outcomes such as successful cooperation, efficient communication, and perceived similarity. PFC region is also linked to executive functions, complex decision-making and efficient communication. These areas in the parent and child brain should synchronize so that parent and child can use mentalizing to predict each other’s intentions and preserve their focus on a common subject during a shared activity. It should be noted that studies show that communication between mothers and sons is different from that of mothers and daughters. The current study explored two main questions: 1) Is parent-child neural synchrony greater during cooperative play than individual play? 2) Does the rate of parent-child neural synchronization vary according to the child’s gender? Methods This study employs a two-factor quasi-experimental design to compare mother-child neural synchrony during individual and cooperative engagement in the Kohs block design task. The exclusion criteria were as follows: 1- A history of depression or anxiety in the mother 2- Intellectual disability, motor disability, or autism spectrum disabilities in the child 3- Premature at birth The tools utilized in this study are: 1) demographic information and 2) Kohs block design test, proposed by Kohs in 1920 as a measure of problem-solving ability in children between 5-15. It consists of 16 cubes, with each side of each cube being 5.2 centimeters. Four sides of the cubes are painted red, white, yellow, and blue; the two remaining sides are divided into two parts from the diameter, with one being painted blue and yellow and the other painted red and white. Participants are instructed to make various shapes with these cubes. 3) A 48-channel fNIRS instrument that uses infrared light to estimate hemodynamic activity in the brain cortex due to neural activity. It is one of the most common non-invasive methods for studying children. This study explored the synchrony between parent and child brain activity in the PFC because this area is linked with executive functions, complex decision-making, and effective communication. First, the experimenter contacted the participants, who informed them of the experiment procedure, the required time, and the fNIRS method. The participants were then invited to the lab, where the experimenter explained the Kohs block design task and experiment stages to them. After that, the mother and her child were guided into the lab and were sat on chairs facing each other. For the cooperative condition, the mother and child had 120 seconds to solve the task. After an 80-second resting time, a portable fiberglass is put between the mother and her child for the individual condition. All of these steps were done twice in a row for each mother-child dyad. Results Data preprocessing and analysis were executed using Pandas, Scipy, and Heartpy in Python. The process involved reading the data, eliminating artifacts—specifically heartbeats and breath signals—using a third-order bandpass filter with a frequency band of [0.2, 0.1], and subsequently determining the correlation between HbO concentration measured across channels using wavelet correlation coefficients. Following this, a Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) was employed in R to assess the statistical significance of the observed patterns. The GLMM was utilized to ascertain the significance of observations, considering conditions such as activities (cooperation and individual) and the child’s gender (boy and girl). The results are outlined as follows: Table 1. Observation for boys and girls in cooperation and individual condition Distance of Cooperation and Individual Condition Correlation Coefficient in Individual Condition Correlation Coefficient in Cooperation Condition Gender 0.0218 0.2320 0.2538 Boy 0.0215 0.2493 0.2709 Girl 0.0217 0.2406 0.2623 Both In the first GLMM, cooperative and individual conditions were considered predictor variables, with the correlation coefficient serving as the response variable in each case. The results indicate a substantial impact of this variable, supported by the notably low p-value observed in the z-estimation. In the second analysis, gender was introduced as a factor in predicting outcomes during both cooperative and individual conditions. The results indicate that, for boys, the low p-value observed in the z-estimation suggests a significant influence on the response variable. However, for girls, the non-significant p-value implies no apparent impact. Therefore, the findings are considered meaningful only for boys. Conclusion The key finding of this current research underscores that during cooperative activity, neural synchronization between mother and child was higher compared to individual activity. This discovery aligns with prior studies in the same domain. It appears that in a reciprocal relationship when both parties focus on a shared stimulus, they adapt their behavior based on predictions of the other party’s actions (5). Each mother-child pair tailors their behavior to align with the other’s actions, fostering cooperation and shared goal attainment (1). The second noteworthy discovery in this study reveals that In the context of cooperative activity, neural synchronization in mother-son pairs was significantly higher than in individual activity. The third finding is that, neural synchronization in mother-daughter pairs was higher during cooperative activity than in individual play; however, this difference is not statistically significant. Although the mother-daughter pairs exhibited higher neural synchronization in the cooperation condition compared to the individual condition, this difference is not statistically significant. This aligns with prior findings. This study focuses on how gender influences neural synchronization in both individual and cooperative conditions. The findings align with Baker et al.’ s discovery (15), indicating that, non-same-sex adults demonstrated higher consonance in cooperative conditions than their same-sex counterparts. This study, marking the first exploration of neurocognition in parenting and parent-child relationships in Iran, highlights the idea that when parents and children have neural harmony, it can promote cooperation and form the basis for cognitive and emotional development in Iranian society. Future research encompassing diverse groups such as children with autism or mothers with depression or anxiety, as well as varying age groups, holds promise for expanding understanding of this intricate field. Ethical Considerations Compliance with ethical guidelines Procedures in this study were approved by the Ethics in Research Committee at the Institute for Cognitive Science Studies (ID: IR.UT.IRICSS.REC.1401.001). Informed consent forms were provided to the mothers, who filled them on behalf of themselves and their children (who were under the age of 18). Participation in the study was voluntary, and mothers and children could decide to opt out of the study at any point during the procedures without any negative consequences. The participants’ names and demographic information are kept confidential. The authors are committed to providing the participants with the experimental data upon their request. Authors’ Contributions Tahere Mahdavi Haji: Studying the existing literature, coming up with the preliminary study design, sampling, data collection, and providing the first draft of the paper. Roghayeh Farajialamooti: Analyzing the fNIRS signals and other data analyses. Alireza Moradi: Providing guidance on every step of the study, editing the paper, and being the corresponding author. Mir Mohsen Pedram: Providing technical counsel for data analysis and editing of the existing paper. Funding No established organization had financially supported this study. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the technicians and authorities at the National Brain Mapping Laboratory (NBML) for their earnest cooperation. Conflict of Interests The authors declared that they have no competing interests.