TY - JOUR
T1 - Oxytocin shapes parental motion during father-infant interaction
AU - Weisman, Omri
AU - Delaherche, Emilie
AU - Rondeau, Margot
AU - Chetouani, Mohamed
AU - Cohen, David
AU - Feldman, Ruth
PY - 2013/12/23
Y1 - 2013/12/23
N2 - An infant-oriented parental repertoire contributes to an infant's development andwell-being. The role of oxytocin (OT) in promoting affiliative bonds andparenting has been established in numerous animal and human studies. Recently, acute administration of OT to a parent was found to enhance the carer's, but at the same time also the infant's, physiological and behavioural readiness for dyadic social engagement. Yet, the exact cues that are involved in this affiliative transmission process remain unclear. The existing literature suggests that motion and vocalization are key social signals for the offspring that facilitates social participation, and that distance and motion perception are modulated by OT in humans. Here, we employed a computational method on video vignettes of human parent-infant interaction including 32 fathers that were administered OT or a placebo in a crossover experimental design. Results indicate that OT modulates parental proximity to the infant, as well as the father's head speed and head acceleration but not the father's vocalization during dyadic interaction. Similarly, the infant's OT reactivity is positively correlated with father's head acceleration. The current findings are the first to report a relationship between theOT system and parentalmotion characteristics, further suggesting that the cross-generation transmission of parenting in humans might be underlaid by nuanced, infant-oriented, gestures relating to the carer's proximity, speed and acceleration within the dyadic context.
AB - An infant-oriented parental repertoire contributes to an infant's development andwell-being. The role of oxytocin (OT) in promoting affiliative bonds andparenting has been established in numerous animal and human studies. Recently, acute administration of OT to a parent was found to enhance the carer's, but at the same time also the infant's, physiological and behavioural readiness for dyadic social engagement. Yet, the exact cues that are involved in this affiliative transmission process remain unclear. The existing literature suggests that motion and vocalization are key social signals for the offspring that facilitates social participation, and that distance and motion perception are modulated by OT in humans. Here, we employed a computational method on video vignettes of human parent-infant interaction including 32 fathers that were administered OT or a placebo in a crossover experimental design. Results indicate that OT modulates parental proximity to the infant, as well as the father's head speed and head acceleration but not the father's vocalization during dyadic interaction. Similarly, the infant's OT reactivity is positively correlated with father's head acceleration. The current findings are the first to report a relationship between theOT system and parentalmotion characteristics, further suggesting that the cross-generation transmission of parenting in humans might be underlaid by nuanced, infant-oriented, gestures relating to the carer's proximity, speed and acceleration within the dyadic context.
KW - Motherese
KW - Motionese
KW - Oxytocin
KW - Parenting
KW - Social signal processing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84890057909&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0828
DO - 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0828
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C2 - 24227046
AN - SCOPUS:84890057909
SN - 1744-9561
VL - 9
JO - Biology Letters
JF - Biology Letters
IS - 6
M1 - 20130828
ER -