Activity changes in the left superior temporal sulcus reflect the effects of childcare training on young female students' perceptions of infants' negative facial expressions. (June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ito, Ayahito; Niwano, Katsuko; Tanabe, Motoko; Sato, Yosuke; Fujii, Toshikatsu
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience research. Volume 131(2018)
• Page Start: 36
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2018-06
• Subjects: Facial expression -- Infant -- Childcare training -- Superior temporal sulcus -- fMRI; Neurosciences -- Research -- Periodicals; Neurosciences -- Research -- Japan -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Neurosciences -- Recherche -- Périodiques; Neurosciences -- Recherche -- Japon -- Périodiques; Neurosciences -- Research; Japan; Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2017.09.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0168-0102

Abstract

Highlights: Young females studying to become preschool teachers participated in this study. The subjects attended fMRI scanning before and after the childcare training. The subjects were presented with happy, neutral, and sad infant faces during fMRI. Left STS activity in response to sad infant faces decreased after the training. Abstract: In many developed countries, the number of infants who experience non-parent childcare is increasing, and the role of preschool teachers is becoming more important. However, little attention has been paid to the effects of childcare training on students who are studying to become preschool teachers. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether and how childcare training affects brain responses to infants' facial expressions among young females studying to become preschool teachers. Twenty-seven subjects who attended a childcare training session (i.e., the experimental group) and 28 subjects who did not attend the training (i.e., the control group) participated in this study. The participants went through fMRI scanning twice: before and after the childcare training session. They were presented with happy, neutral, and sad infant faces one by one during fMRI scanning. The present neuroimaging results revealed that the activity patterns of the left superior temporal sulcus (STS) for sad faces were modulated by the interaction between the time point of the data collection and group differences. The present results are the first to highlight the effects of childcare training on the human brain.