Billing Addison D N, Smith Eleanor S, Cooper Robert J, Lawson Rebecca P
University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
DOT-HUB, University College London, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, London, United Kingdom.
Neurophotonics. 2025 Jul;12(3):035013. doi: 10.1117/1.NPh.12.3.035013. Epub 2025 Sep 16.
Postnatal maternal anxiety affects a substantial number of new mothers and is linked to long-term risk for anxiety in their offspring. Yet, the neural mechanisms through which postnatal maternal anxiety influences early cognitive development remain unclear. We investigated whether postnatal maternal anxiety shapes how infant brains respond to unexpected events-prediction errors-which are central to learning in uncertain environments.
We examined prediction error processing in 6- to 8-month-old infants using high-density diffuse optical tomography and eye-tracking. We hypothesized that neural responses in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) would vary with maternal anxiety levels.
Infants viewed audiovisual events where expected outcomes were occasionally omitted, eliciting prediction errors. Hemodynamic responses in the frontal cortex were analyzed using a general linear model, with trial-by-trial gaze data as a parametric modulator. Maternal anxiety was measured using the state-trait anxiety inventory.
Prediction error responses were localized to the mPFC and were only detectable when controlling for infant attention using eye-tracking. Cortical activation in response to unexpected stimuli was significantly enhanced in infants of mothers with higher trait anxiety.
Our findings suggest that maternal anxiety modulates prediction error processing in the infant brain, potentially shaping early sensitivity to environmental unpredictability and conferring risk for later anxiety.
产后母亲焦虑影响大量新妈妈，并与她们后代的长期焦虑风险相关。然而，产后母亲焦虑影响早期认知发展的神经机制仍不清楚。我们研究了产后母亲焦虑是否会塑造婴儿大脑对意外事件（预测误差）的反应方式，而预测误差是在不确定环境中学习的核心。
我们使用高密度扩散光学断层扫描和眼动追踪技术研究了6至8个月大婴儿的预测误差处理情况。我们假设内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）的神经反应会随母亲焦虑水平而变化。
婴儿观看视听事件，其中预期结果偶尔会被省略，从而引发预测误差。使用一般线性模型分析额叶皮质的血流动力学反应，并将逐次试验的注视数据作为参数调制器。使用状态-特质焦虑量表测量母亲的焦虑程度。
预测误差反应定位于mPFC，并且只有在使用眼动追踪控制婴儿注意力时才能检测到。特质焦虑较高的母亲的婴儿对意外刺激的皮质激活显著增强。
我们的研究结果表明，母亲焦虑会调节婴儿大脑中的预测误差处理，可能塑造对环境不可预测性的早期敏感性，并带来后期焦虑的风险。
