生物谷報(bào)道：英國科學(xué)家2月27日日發(fā)布一項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果,，表明他們已確定了一個(gè)大腦區(qū)域的位置,，這個(gè)區(qū)域?qū)τ谛纬烧樟虾蛽狃B(yǎng)嬰兒這種為人父母的本能至關(guān)重要。相關(guān)論文發(fā)表在《公共科學(xué)圖書館·綜合》（PLoS ONE）上,。
據(jù)路透社報(bào)道,，牛津大學(xué)的研究人員說，這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)有助于解釋人們?yōu)楹握J(rèn)為嬰兒需要特殊照顧這一進(jìn)化問題,，并可以有助于醫(yī)生更準(zhǔn)確地診斷遭受產(chǎn)后抑郁癥折磨的病人,。
這項(xiàng)研究的負(fù)責(zé)人之一、神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)科學(xué)家莫滕·克林格爾巴赫說：“這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)很重要,，因?yàn)槲覀優(yōu)槭裁磿?huì)照料自己的孩子,，以確保我們這個(gè)物種延續(xù)下去，這一定是有原因的,。這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)可以追溯到達(dá)爾文那里,。”
克林格爾巴赫和他的同事艾倫·斯坦證明了大腦中一個(gè)被稱為內(nèi)側(cè)眶前腦皮層的區(qū)域在見到嬰兒的面孔時(shí)會(huì)興奮，而見到成人面孔則不會(huì),。
科學(xué)家相信這個(gè)區(qū)域緊挨著眼球上方,，與辨認(rèn)面孔的重要區(qū)域相連接，是大腦中控制情感的重要部位,。研究人員利用成像掃描技術(shù)測量了志愿者的大腦活動(dòng)情況,。試驗(yàn)過程中，志愿者按照要求會(huì)在眼前的屏幕更換色彩時(shí)按動(dòng)按鈕,。其間,，陌生的嬰兒和成人面孔會(huì)在屏幕上閃動(dòng)。
研究人員說,，在看到成人面孔時(shí),，大腦沒有反應(yīng)；但看到嬰兒面孔時(shí),，一秒鐘之內(nèi)大腦活動(dòng)水平就會(huì)提高,。這是一種本能的信號,，說明嬰兒是特殊的。
研究中涉及的男性,、女性和沒有孩子的志愿者對嬰兒的父性母性反應(yīng)是相似的。這就證明了這種反應(yīng)是與生俱來的,。（新華網(wǎng)）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
（《公共科學(xué)圖書館·綜合》（PLoS ONE）,，doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001664，Morten L. Kringelbach, Alan Stein）
A Specific and Rapid Neural Signature for Parental Instinct
Morten L. Kringelbach1,2,8,9*, Annukka Lehtonen1, Sarah Squire1, Allison G. Harvey3, Michelle G. Craske4, Ian E. Holliday5, Alexander L. Green8, Tipu Z. Aziz2,8, Peter C. Hansen6, Piers L. Cornelissen7, Alan Stein1
1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2 Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America, 4 Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, 5 The Wellcome Trust Laboratory for MEG Studies, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 6 School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 7 Department of Psychology, York University, York, United Kingdom, 8 Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom, 9 Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Abstract
Darwin originally pointed out that there is something about infants which prompts adults to respond to and care for them, in order to increase individual fitness, i.e. reproductive success, via increased survivorship of one's own offspring. Lorenz proposed that it is the specific structure of the infant face that serves to elicit these parental responses, but the biological basis for this remains elusive. Here, we investigated whether adults show specific brain responses to unfamiliar infant faces compared to adult faces, where the infant and adult faces had been carefully matched across the two groups for emotional valence and arousal, as well as size and luminosity. The faces also matched closely in terms of attractiveness. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in adults, we found that highly specific brain activity occurred within a seventh of a second in response to unfamiliar infant faces but not to adult faces. This activity occurred in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), an area implicated in reward behaviour, suggesting for the first time a neural basis for this vital evolutionary process. We found a peak in activity first in mOFC and then in the right fusiform face area (FFA). In mOFC the first significant peak (p<0.001) in differences in power between infant and adult faces was found at around 130 ms in the 10–15 Hz band. These early differences were not found in the FFA. In contrast, differences in power were found later, at around 165 ms, in a different band (20–25 Hz) in the right FFA, suggesting a feedback effect from mOFC. These findings provide evidence in humans of a potential brain basis for the “innate releasing mechanisms” described by Lorenz for affection and nurturing of young infants. This has potentially important clinical applications in relation to postnatal depression, and could provide opportunities for early identification of families at risk.
Figure 1. Significant differences between viewing infant and adult faces.
The group SAM analysis revealed a significant peak in the medial orbitofrontal cortex in the 10–30 Hz band in the 0–250 ms (first two columns), 100–350 ms (third column) and 200–450 ms (fourth column) windows when participants viewed infant (upper row) and not when they viewed adult faces (lower row). The fifth column shows the integrated z-map over the three time windows (with Z>3.1) with all active brain regions listed in Table 1. In order to see the extent of the spread of activity over the fusiform cortices elicited by faces, the group activity is superimposed on a ventral view of the human brain (with the cerebellum removed).
全文鏈接：http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001664
