Parental brain: cerebral areas activated by infant cries and faces. A comparison between different populations of parents and not.

Literature about parenting traditionally focused on caring behaviors and parental representations. Nowadays, an innovative line of research, interested in evaluating the neural areas and hormones implicated in the nurturing and caregiving responses, has developed. The only way to permit a newborn to survive and grow up is to respond to his needs and in order to succeed it is necessary, \ufb01rst of all, that the adults around him understand what his needs are. That is why adults\u2019 capacity of taking care of infants cannot disregard from some biological mechanisms, which allow them to be more responsive to the progeny and to infants in general. Many researches have proved that exist speci\ufb01c neural basis activating in response to infant evolutionary stimuli, such as infant cries and infant emotional facial expression. There is a sort of innate predisposition in human adults to respond to infants\u2019 signals, in order to satisfy their need and allow them to survive and become young adults capable of taking care of themselves. This article focuses on research that has investigated, in the last decade, the neural circuits underlying parental behavioral responses. Moreover, the paper compares the results of those studies that investigated the neural responses to infant stimuli under different conditions: familiar versus unknown children, parents versus non-parents and normative versus clinical samples (depression, addiction, adolescence, and PTSD)

Maternal Drug Addiction: Influences on mother-child relationship and on early child development.

Much literature has pointed out parental drug addiction as a risk factor at multiple levels for the dyad, affecting parenting quality, child development and more globally the adult-child relationship. Drug addicted mothers are often reported as less sensitive, more intrusive and less able to regulate negative affects during early adult-child interactions. On the other hand, children of addicted mothers are often described as more irritable or more passive. The aim of this research was to investigate longitudinally the quality of adult-child relationship and of child interactive and emotional development in a group of drug addicted mothers and their children prenatally exposed to substances. The study involved 25 mother-child pairs (with children aged between 2 and 24 months) with drug addicted mothers. The dyads were followed for a 15 months-period and assessed regularly (every 3 months) through the application of the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS \u2013 Biringen, 2008) to videotaped free play interactions. In this way it has been possible to consider both the mothers\u2019 and the children\u2019s contribution to the development of their relationship. The results were controversial, showing on one hand changes related only to specific EA dimensions and on the other hand patterns of changes that seemed characteristics of specific patterns of emotional availability. Dyads that initially showed interactions of better quality tended to improve their relationship during time, whereas dyads that exhibited more difficulties at the beginning of the study did not show improvements. Moreover, children of dyads which experienced interactions of better quality showed better interactive and emotional features than children of dyads characterized by more dysfunctional patterns of interaction. Dyads characterized by maternal drug addiction are often reported to be at higher risk for experiencing difficulties during everyday interactions and more likely to be associated to less optimal developmental outcomes. Anyway the results of our study highlight that, despite the condition of drug addiction, experiencing a relationship of good quality could be associated to better mother-child interactions and to more functional interactive and emotional development for children

Attachment representations and early interactions in drug addicted mothers: a case study of four women with distinct Adult Attachment Interview classifications

open4Drug addiction is considered a major risk factor that can influence maternal functioning at multiple levels, leading to less optimal parental qualities and less positive interactive exchanges in mother-child dyads. Moreover, drug abusers often report negative or traumatic attachment representations regarding their own childhood. These representations might affect, to some extent, later relational and developmental outcomes of their children. This study explored whether the development of dyadic interactions in addicted women differed based on attachment status. The longitudinal ongoing of mother-child emotional exchanges was assessed among four mothers with four different attachment statuses (F-autonomous, E-preoccupied, Ds-dismissing, and U-unresolved/with losses). Attachment representations were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview ( George et al., 1985), while mother-child interactions were evaluated longitudinally during videotaped play sessions, through the Emotional Availability Scales (Biringen, 2008). As expected, the dyad with the autonomous mother showed better interactive functioning during play despite the condition of drug-abuse; the mother proved to be more affectively positive, sensitive, and responsive, while her baby showed a better organization of affects and behaviors. On the other side,insecure mothers seemed to experience more difficulties when interacting with their children showing inconsistency in the ability to perceive and respond to their babies’ signals. Finally, children of insecure mothers showed less clear affects and signals. While differences between secure and insecure dyads appeared clear, differences between insecure patterns where less linear, suggesting a possible mediating role played by other factors. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.openPorreca, A.; De Palo, F.; Simonelli, A.; Capra, N.Porreca, Alessio; DE PALO, Francesca; Simonelli, Alessandra; Capra, N

The Role of Father Involvement and Marital Satisfaction in the Development of Family Interactive Abilities: A Multilevel Approach.

The study aims to investigate the development of family interactions from pregnancy to preschool age in a longitudinal perspective, using multilevel analysis. Also, it explored the impact of couple relationship and father involvement in childcare on the developmental trend of the quality of mother\u2013father\u2013child interactions. One hundred and three primiparous families were assessed at 7th month of pregnancy, 4th, 9th, and 18th months of child\u2019s life and during preschool age (36\u201348th), using the observational procedure named, Lausanne Trilogue Play. Parents\u2019 perception of marital satisfaction was assessed with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale at each point of measure; moreover, in the postnatal assessment, parents completed the Father Involvement Questionnaire. Results showed that family interactions increase over time. Secondly, a decrease of marital adjustment is associated with an improvement of the quality of family interactions. Moreover, father involvement predicts the quality of family interactions from the earliest stages of child\u2019s life. In a longitudinal perspective, family interactions and marital quality show opposite developmental trends and father\u2019s involvement represents a particularly important feature of the family

Research and Intervention for Drug-Addicted Mothers and Their Children: New Perspectives

According to research carried out by the EMCDDA, drug-addicted women in Europe account for at least one quarter of the total European population consuming illicit substances (Emcdda, 2006a). A specific research platform entitled \u201cWomen and Drugs\u201d was created within the context of the second European project \u201cDemocracies, Cities and Drugs.\u201d This platform is focused on what characterizes and distinguishes female substance addiction from male substance addiction: its manifestation, its attributes, and the interventions or services which can be put into effect while devoting special attention and offering specialized care to this phenomenon. Our findings confirm that women substance users are exposed to a great number of risks such as medical, social, economic, familial and psychopathological risks requiring intervention through specific tools and aimed responses (see Brentari, Hernandez, Tripodi, 2011). The investigated factors included pregnancy, parenthood and the well-being as well as development of the child, while taking into account institutional and ethical reflections regarding this complex theme. The substance abuse phenomenon indeed affects a high number of fertile women. When drugs are consumed during pregnancy, they can have serious, direct and indirect effects on the postpartum development with subsequent effects on the child (OTIS, 2010). Substance abusing mothers represent an at-risk parenting situation which, in turn, profoundly influences the quality of the mother-child relationship. The awareness of these at-risk situations for children along with the widely accepted notion that ideally, children should always be raised by their mothers led to the introduction of residential treatment in Italy. These services deal with maternal pathologies and provide care and assistance for children; in fact, these therapeutic communities accommodate addicted mothers as well as their children. Up until recently, therapies for children (particularly medical ones) were administered by institutions outside of the community, while no therapeutic treatment was mandated for minors. The first therapeutic communities for drug addicted mothers and their children appeared in Europe in the early nineties. These institutions must provide assistance to children and assure them the greatest possible social, psychological and physical well-being. In addition to the funds available for each mother, funds for each individual minor are made available on a daily basis. Our project: \u201cResearch and intervention on minors in communities for addicted mothers and their children: from at-risk parenting to child wellbeing\u201d was promoted within this specific intervention framework. The project aims to secure child well-being by assessing maternal parenting as well as by carrying out direct and indirect observations of the child, his/her caregivers and the caregiver-child relationship. At the same time, the most suitable intervention for each single subject is put into effect

Drug addicted mothers and their empathic reactivity to painful cues.

Introduction: Mother-infant relationship is crucial for offspring\u2019s development. Substance-abuse has been shown to affect adults\u2019 ability to care for their children, in particular in the affective- relational aspects of parenting, such as the attachment bond and the ability to provide protection. Surprisingly, no previous study has explored neural responses associated with empathy towards children\u2019s pain in mothers with such history. Empathy is a more general construct than parenting and deficits in neural empathic responses may better explain failures in caring of addicted mothers. Aims of the study: This study was aimed at investigating the empathic response to pain inflicted by a dangerous tool to hands of kids when compared to neutral situations in a sample of mothers with history of drug-abuse. We used Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) technique to explore the time-course of neural empathic responses to pain by virtue of its excellent time resolution. In particular, we asked whether empathic responses to pain of children would differ in drug-addicted mothers compared to control group, during a relatively automatic early stage of processing or during a more controlled delayed one involving mentalizing. Material and methods: Event-related potentials (ERPs) have been recorded from drug-addicted mothers (i.e., clinical) and control groups to track neural activity in a pain decision task. Stimuli were pictures showing one infant hand in painful (harmful object applied to the hand) and neutral situations (harmful object located close to the hand). Results: Neural empathic responses towards children in pain differed between the two groups such that ERPs diverged between the painful and neutral stimulation at delayed stages of processing only for the clinical group. Conclusions: We interpreted these results as indicating that the control group implicitly judged also the neutral situations involving children as potentially painful supporting a lack of mentalizing abilities in the clinical group when compared with controls

Nutritional Profile of Donkey and Horse Meat: Effect of Muscle and Aging Time

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 14-day vacuum aging on the nutritional composition of donkey and horse meat. Longissimus Dorsi (LD), Semimebranosus (SM), and Rectus Femoris (RF), Semitendinosus (ST) muscles were sampled from each left carcass of 12 donkeys and 12 horses, respectively. Each muscle was divided into three sections, vacuum packaged, and stored at 2 °C for different aging times (1, 6, and 14 days). Fatty acids, amino acids, and cholesterol content were determined. SM exhibited higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) both in donkey and horse, whereas LD evidenced higher saturated (SFA) and monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acids and lower cholesterol content in horse after 1, 6, and 14 days of storage. An aging effect was found only in donkey meat with higher saturated fatty acids and lower PUFA content at the end of the aging period. The highest value of essential amino acids has been displayed in SM an LD muscles from horse and donkey, respectively. Our results highlighted that equine meat, due to an excellent nutritional profile, represents a healthy alternative to traditionally consumed red meat. A different aging method could be used in donkey meat to preserve the high PUFA content

How Volatile Compounds, Oxidative Profile and Sensory Evaluation Can Change with Vacuum Aging in Donkey Meat

This study aims to improve knowledge on donkey meat and the vacuum aging effect on the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), oxidative profile and status and the sensory characteristics. Ten 18-month old Martina Franca donkeys’ male foals were involved in the trial. Longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle was extracted from each left half carcass, between the fourth and the ninth rib. Each muscle was divided into five sections, vacuum packaged, stored at 2 C, and randomly assigned to one of the dierent aging time (1, 3, 6, 9, and 14 days of aging). Volatile compounds, oxidation parameters, and antioxidant enzymes were analysed, and a sensory test was performed. A nested one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for aging time as an independent variable. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Aldehydes are the most produced VOCs, but no changes were observed during vacuum aging (p > 0.05). Nitrogen compounds increased during aging (p < 0.01). TBARs and hydroperoxides did not change during the storage, whereas the protein carbonyls increased (p < 0.05). Vacuum aging slowed down lipid oxidation and put in evidence the presence of protein oxidation and degradation, influencing the VOCs productions and sensory evaluation