454 - The Influence of Maternal-Child Interactions During Early Childhood Development and the Impact of Anterior Cingulate Cortex Volumes

Poster Number: 454
Publication Number: 454.121

Sofia Markee, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States; Dawn Novak, University of New Mexico Children's Hospital, Albuquerque, NM, United States; John P. Phillips, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, albuquerque, NM, United States; Jean Lowe, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, United States

Background: Studies investigating differences in regional brain volumes in children during early childhood are limited. Many theories suggest the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is at the center of the brain’s self-regulatory system playing a key role in learning, emotion, impulsivity and decision making. The development and functional organization of the ACC is likely an essential step in the cerebral maturation that underlies cognitive, social and emotional development, which good parenting aims to foster.

Objective: Our aim is to investigate the volume of the ACC identified with MRI and developmental outcomes in children at 18 months. We hypothesize that the volume of the ACC will be larger in children who received more positive directing behaviors from their mothers during play and that ACC volumes will be larger in children with higher cognitive and language scores as measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-III).

Design/Methods: Healthy term infants were recruited in Albuquerque, NM between 2010-2012 as part of a longitudinal study of parenting and child development. MRI scans were manually traced for volumes of the ACC (n=22). The BSID-III measured cognitive and language development. The Maternal Attention Directing Manual (S. Landry 2000) was used to code six minute free-play videos of maternal-child dyads, focusing on positive and negative maternal directing behaviors.

Results: Spearman correlation showed that increased frequency of redirect commands, a negative maternal directing behavior, was significantly associated with smaller right ACC volumes (p=0.007); increased duration of redirect commands was negatively associated with both right-sided ACC volumes (p=0.004) and total ACC volumes (p=0.035). We also found a significant negative association between redirecting behavior and BSID-III language scores (p=0.018). Partial correlation controlling for maternal income maintained a significant negative association with redirecting commands. No significance was seen between ACC volumes and positive maternal behaviors or BSID-III scores.Conclusion(s): We demonstrate a significant negative association between the right and total ACC volumes in children whose mothers used more redirecting commands, a form of negative maternal directing behavior. A negative impact was also found between BSID-III language scores and maternal redirecting behavior. Overall, these results suggest that maternal redirecting may have a negative impact on ACC volumes and early child language development.