Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40792427›Full record

ArticleHuman brain mapping2025

My Baby Versus the World: Fathers' Neural Processing of Own-Infant, Unfamiliar-Infant, and Romantic Partner Stimuli.

Philip Newsome, Anthony G Vaccaro, Sofia I Cárdenas, Narcis A Valen, Yael H Waizman, Elizabeth C Aviv, Gabriel A León, Jonas T Kaplan, Darby E Saxbe

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Human brain mapping, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Philip NewsomeDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2912-0618
Anthony G VaccaroDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0062-9303
Sofia I CárdenasDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Narcis A ValenDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Yael H WaizmanDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Elizabeth C AvivDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Gabriel A LeónDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Jonas T KaplanDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Darby E SaxbeDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8951-4216

Funding

Prenatal Social Connection and Disruption During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Maternal and Infant HealthR01HD104801 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI SAXBE, DARBY E. · 2021 to 2025
$2.2M
The role of fathers' sleep quality and white matter microstructure on the adjustment to parenthoodF31HD108957 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI CARDENAS, SOFIA ISABELA · 2022 to 2024
$96k
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 3R01HD104801-05S1National Science Foundation 1552452NICHD NIH HHS F31 HD108957NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD104801
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Parents activate brain regions linked with social cognition, reward processing, and emotion when viewing their own infant. Neural responses to own-infant stimuli may be driven by familiarity, self-relevance, or by the unique features of infant faces. The current study sought to clarify these distinctions in first-time fathers by contrasting video stimuli of their infant, an unfamiliar infant, and their pregnant partner. In addition, we examined associations with fathers' self-reported bonding and parenting stress. Fathers (n = 32) scanned approximately 8 months after the birth of their first child completed an fMRI scan while watching videos of their infant, an unfamiliar infant, their pregnant partner, and an unfamiliar pregnant woman. We compared neural responses to the participant's own infant to these other stimuli using both traditional univariate methods and multivariate searchlight analyses. Lastly, we ran additional multivariate pattern analyses to determine discriminability between infant and adult stimuli, as well as familiar and unfamiliar stimuli. Consistent with previous studies, fathers showed greater activation to their own infant versus an unfamiliar infant in regions including the precuneus, posterior cingulate, orbitofrontal cortex, and inferior frontal gyrus. In addition, fathers exhibited heightened activation to their own infant versus their partner in the precuneus. Fathers who reported stronger antenatal and postpartum bonding and lower parenting stress 3 months after birth subsequently showed stronger activation in the precuneus and posterior cingulate to their own infant. Multivariate pattern analyses revealed that in addition to these regions, the parahippocampus differentiated own-infant stimuli versus other conditions. Neural patterns distinguished infant/adult and familiar/unfamiliar stimuli in mentalizing, visual, and affective areas. These findings replicate and extend previous research on the parental brain and suggest that cortical midline mentalizing network regions, as well as visual and reward areas, are particularly important in first-time fathers' processing of their own infants.

Indexed as

Cerebral CortexFacial RecognitionFathersObject AttachmentRecognition, PsychologySexual PartnersSocial PerceptionAdultBrain MappingFemaleHumansInfantMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleParentingPregnancyfatherhoodinfant schemamentalizingparenting brain

Identifiers

PMID40792427
PMCPMC12340546

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.