Breastfeeding positions fNIRS hyperscanning
Description
The study supported by this dataset aimed to investigate whether cerebral synchronization between mothers and newborns is related to different positions adopted by the dyad during lactation. Specifically, a comparison was made between the semi-reclined position, characteristic of the biological nurturing approach, and the upright position, suggested by UNICEF guidelines. Fifty mothers and their term newborns were enrolled. Exclusively basing on mother's choice, the dyads were assigned to the semi-reclined position (N = 25) or the upright position (N = 25). Cortical activity during the first five minutes of breastfeeding was assessed by multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy, which detects changes in oxygenated haemoglobin concentration, as cortical activation esteem, from multiple cortical areas. Functional activity was simultaneously detected (hyperscanning) from mothers’ frontal and primary motor/somatosensory cortex and newborns' somatosensory, temporal, and posterior frontal cortex. Wavelet Transform Coherence analysis was used to identify the synchronization between mother and infant cortical activaty during breastfeeding. Some differences were found between the synchronization profiles of cortical activity in mother-infant dyads, when different positions during the first five minutes of breastfeeding were assumed. Mother-infant dyads who adopted the semi-reclined position showed cortical synchronization periods between their brains at two different sampling frequency of oxygenated haemoglobin concentration (25-50 seconds, 100 seconds), lasting longer than the only one synchronization observed in the upright position. The synchronization observed at the lowest sampling frequency of oxygenated haemoglobin concentration (100 seconds), absent in dyads adopting the upright position, began before latching and lasted beyond the monitored five minutes period. Unlike the upright position, the synchronized cortical activity of the dyad in the semi-reclined position showed always the same direction and was led by the newborn. Different reciprocal positions of mother and newborn during lactation are associated with different profiles of their cortical activity synchronization, that may influence their subjective experience of breastfeeding. Further research is needed to deepen the underlying neurophysiological and neurohormonal mechanisms and to explore the clinical implications of these observations.
Files
Institutions
- IRCCS Materno Infantile Burlo GarofoloFriuli Venezia Giulia, Trieste