Shared Minds, Shared Feedback: tracing the influence of parental feedback on shared neural patterns

Cereb Cortex. 2024 Jan 14;34(1):bhad489. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhad489.

Abstract

Parental feedback affects children in multiple ways. However, little is known about how children, family, and feedback types affect parental feedback neural mechanisms. The current study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based hyperscanning to observe 47 mother-daughter pairs's (mean age of mothers: 35.95 ± 3.99 yr old; mean age of daughters: 6.97 ± 0.75 yr old) brain synchronization in a jigsaw game under various conditions. Between parental negative feedback and praise conditions, mother-daughter brain in supramarginal gyrus, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right inferior frontal gyrus, and right primary somatic (S1) differed. When criticized, conformity family-communication-patterned families had much worse brain synchronization in S1, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right Wernicke's region than conversational families. Resilient children had better mother-child supramarginal gyrus synchronicity under negative feedback. This study supports the importance of studying children's neurological development in nurturing environments to assess their psychological development.

Keywords: children resilience; family communication pattern; hyperscanning; parental feedback.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Brain Mapping
  • Brain*
  • Feedback
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mothers
  • Parents
  • Prefrontal Cortex* / diagnostic imaging