Cradling side preference is associated with lateralized processing of baby facial expressions in females

Is infant holding‐side bias related to motor asymmetries in mother and child?

“…Another limitation is that the above-mentioned studies were conducted with nonparents (university students). Thus, Donnot and Vauclair (2007) and Vauclair and Scola (2009) did not observe any significant relationship between perception of either visual or auditory emotions and holding-side preferences in populations of mothers, in marked contrast to the results obtained with student populations (Bourne & Todd, 2004;Vauclair & Donnot, 2005;Harris, Almerigi, Carbari, & Fogel, 2001;Huggenberger et al, 2009).…”

“…The generality of this behavior has prompted growing interest in the literature and some researchers have attempted to explain the origin of this bias. As holding-side preference is a postural asymmetry, several studies have examined the relationship between the side of holding and the presence of other asymmetries expressed by the mother (e.g., perceptual asymmetries and handedness: Bourne & Todd, 2004;Harris, Almerigi, & Kirsch, 2000;Huggenberger, Suter, Reijnen, & Schachinger, 2009;Manning & Chamberlain, 1991;Vauclair & Donnot, 2005) or by the child (e.g., asymmetric tonic neck reflex or ATNR: Bundy, 1979;Ginsburg, Fling, Hope, Musgrove, & Andrews, 1979;Sieratzki & Woll, 1996).…”

“…The right hemisphere is known to play a role in the expression and perception of emotional information (e.g., Bryden & Levy, 1983) and could consequently be involved in the regulation of emotional exchanges when a parent holds his or her child. Different investigations (e.g., Bourne & Todd, 2004;Huggenberger et al, 2009;Vauclair & Donnot, 2005) have demonstrated that hemispheric specialization in the perception of facial emotions is correlated with holding-side biases. The main finding is that the left holding bias is linked to enhanced perception of facial emotions in the left visual field, that is, under the control of the right cerebral hemisphere.…”

Lateralization of infant holding by mothers: A longitudinal evaluation of variations over the first 12 weeks

“…In contrast, a link between left holding and left visual field advantage in the perception of face stimuli has been found in studies using dolls (Bourne & Todd, 2004;Huggenberger, Suter, Reijnen, & Schachinger, 2009;Vauclair & Donnot, 2005) though no equivalent right visual field advantage appears to be associated with right holding (Bourne & Todd, 2004;Harris et al, 2010). However, when mothers held infants, no correlation between visual field advantage and holding side was found (Donnot & Vauclair, 2007;Vauclair & Scola, 2009;Scola & Vauclair, 2010b).…”

“…If this model were applied to the data from this study, the group of mothers who showed an inconsistent lateral bias would be presumed to have higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry. This kind of variability may go some way towards explaining inconsistencies and discrepancies within the literature regarding associations between infant/doll holding side and measures of hemispheric specialisation (Bourne & Todd, 2004;Donnot & Vauclair, 2007;Harris et al, 2010;Huggenberger et al, 2009;Lucas et al, 1996). It could therefore be informative to compare hemispheric laterality data from participants, especially mothers, who show a consistent lateral cradling preference with those who do not.…”