The neural correlates of grandmaternal caregiving

Abstract

In many societies, grandmothers are important caregivers, and grandmaternal investment is often associated with improved grandchild well-being. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first study to examine grandmaternal brain function. We recruited 50 grandmothers with at least one biological grandchild between 3 and 12 years old. Brain function was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging as grandmothers viewed pictures of their grandchild, an unknown child, the same-sex parent of the grandchild, and an unknown adult. Grandmothers also completed questionnaires to measure their degree of involvement with and attachment to their grandchild. After controlling for age and familiarity of stimuli, viewing grandchild pictures activated areas involved with emotional empathy (insula and secondary somatosensory cortex) and movement (motor cortex and supplementary motor area). Grandmothers who more strongly activated areas involved with cognitive empathy (temporo-parietal junction and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex) when viewing pictures of the grandchild desired greater involvement in caring for the grandchild. Finally, compared with results from an earlier study of fathers, grandmothers more strongly activated regions involved with emotional empathy (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula and secondary somatosensory cortex), and motivation (nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum and caudate nucleus). All in all, our findings suggest that emotional empathy may be a key component of grandmaternal responses to their grandchildren.

Parental brain through time: The origin and development of the neural circuit of mammalian parenting

“…Michael Numan presented a seminal series of studies demonstrating that the MPOA (Figure 1) is responsible for rat maternal care, possibly through its dorsolateral connections with the brain stem, such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA). [76][77][78][79][80] Since then, the MPOA has been established as the brain hub for maternal, paternal, and alloparental nurturing behaviors, with evidence in laboratory rats, 76,81,82 hamsters, 83 biparental California mice, 84 laboratory mice, 55 rabbits, 85 sheep, 86 common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus), 87 and with supporting observations in humans 88,89 29,30 Still, there are practical benefits of the classical practice that deals with them together as a continuum (Figure 1A). 31 First, the POA and hypothalamus are spatially adjacent and extensively connected through the longitudinal fiber system.…”

It takes a village: A multi-brain approach to studying multigenerational family communication

“…In sum, the literature highlights the importance of acknowledging the diverse family structures and cultural values in society, recognizing the vital role that grandparents play in child development, and understanding how multigenerational households affect families' well-being. Yet, developmental neuroscience research has largely focused on the mother-child relationship (but see Rilling et al, 2021 ; Kida et al, 2014 ), and to our knowledge, no studies to date have directly studied dynamic social interactions among tri-generational family members.…”