Maternal technoference decreases brain-to-brain synchrony during mother-infant interaction

Abstract

Face-to-face interactions between parents and infants are crucial for healthy infant development. In today's world, these interactions are frequently disrupted by parental distraction by technological devices, a phenomenon known as technoference. This study aimed to investigate the effects of technoference on mother-infant brain-to-brain synchrony - a measure for how well two brains are communicating. Previous research has shown that greater brain-to-brain synchrony may reflect higher sensitive caregiving, while lower synchrony reflects higher intrusive caregiving. A total of 33 mother-infant dyads participated in a modified Still-Face Paradigm incorporating maternal smartphone distraction. Dual-EEG was employed to measure mother-infant brain-to-brain synchrony which was subsequently quantified using weighted Phase Lag Index (wPLI). Results revealed that, as expected, mother-infant brain-to-brain synchrony was decreased during the smartphone interruptions. Additionally, brain-to-brain synchrony between mother and infant went back to baseline during reunion. Overall, these findings align with previous research emphasizing the potential disruptive effect of smartphones in parent-infant interactions, but also suggest that mother-infant brain-to-brain synchrony can be restored when the mother re-engages in the interaction.