Preliminary genetic imaging study of the association between estrogen receptor-α gene polymorphisms and harsh human maternal parenting

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Benjamin B. Lahey, University of Chicago; Kalina J. Michalska, University of Chicago; Chunyu Liu, University of Illinois; Qi Chen, University of Illinois; Alison E. Hipwell, University of Pittsburgh; Irwin Waldman, Emory University; Jean Decety, University of Chicago
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-09-06
• Publisher: Elsevier: 12 months
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2012.07.016
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Neuroscience Letters
• ISSN: 0304-3940
• Volume: 525
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 17
• End Page: 22
• Grant/Funding Information: Supported by the Brain Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (R01- MH53554).
• Keywords: Adult; Models, Neurological; Humans; Mother-Child Relations; Child; Parenting; Middle Aged; Photic Stimulation; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Case-Control Studies; Brain Mapping; Maternal Behavior; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Female; Child, Preschool; Male; Estrogen Receptor alpha; Brain
• Research Categories: Psychology, Behavioral; Biology, Genetics; Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

A failure of neural changes initiated by the estrogen surge in late pregnancy to reverse the valence of infant stimuli from aversive to rewarding is associated with dysfunctional maternal behavior in nonhuman mammals. Estrogen receptor-α plays the crucial role in mediating these neural effects of estrogen priming. This preliminary study examines associations between estrogen receptor-α gene polymorphisms and human maternal behavior. Two polymorphisms were associated with human negative maternal parenting. Furthermore, hemodynamic responses in functional magnetic resonance imaging to child stimuli in neural regions associated with social cognition fully mediated the association between genetic variation and negative parenting. This suggests testable hypotheses regarding a biological pathway between genetic variants and dysfunctional human maternal parenting.