Baby Crying Induces Different Cortical Activation in Mothers with Secure and Insecure Attachment

SYNOPSISObjective. To characterize electroencephalographic activity (EEG) in mothers with secure (SA) and insecure attachment (IA) while viewing a video of a baby crying (CR).Design.EEGs were recorded in the prefrontal and parietal cortices (related to the processing of relevant stimuli) in first-time, IA (n= 8) and SA (n= 8), mothers while watching and listening to CR.Results.During CR, compared to IA, SA showed a lower absolute power (AP) of the alpha2 and beta1 bands in frontal areas, higher AP of the gamma and delta bands in parietal areas, and higher prefronto-parietal correlation in the fast frequencies.Conclusions.These EEG differences could be related to the greater attention and emotional regulation that SA show in the presence of a baby crying.