Table 1.

Brain networks and regions that support parenting in human mothers and changes in these brain networks that are associated with different types of stress exposure. The arrows indicate a direction of changes such as increased/decreased brain responses to infant cues or increased/decreased brain structure or brain-to-brain synchrony with own child. PFC = prefrontal cortex.

Brain Network	Brain Regions	Childhood Adversity	Environmental Stress	Childbirth/Parenting Stress
Maternal Motivation/Reward	hypothalamus, ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, substantia nigra, striatum, medial PFC, orbitofrontal cortex	↓ (positive and negative cues)		↓ (parenting stress - positive and negative cues), ↓ (maternal cortisol - negative cues),
Salience	amygdala, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex	↓ (positive and negative cues)	↓ (positive cues), ↑ (negative cues)
Stress Regulation	hippocampus	↑ (negative cues)
Emotional and Cognitive Control	medial and lateral PFC, anterior cingulate cortex	↓ (negative cues)	↓ (negative cues)	↓ (brain-to-brain synchrony), ↓ (maternal cortisol - negative cues),
Sensorimotor	thalamus, precentral gyrus, supplementary motor area, superior temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, occipital lobe, cerebellum	↑ (negative cues), ↑ (structural size), ↓ (structural connectivity)	↓ (negative cues)	↑ (childbirth - positive and negative cues)
Emotional Empathy	inferior frontal gyrus, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex	↑ (negative cues)	↓ (negative cues)	↑ (childbirth - positive and negative cues), ↓ (maternal cortisol - negative cues),
Cognitive Empathy	superior temporal sulcus, medial PFC, frontopolar cortex, precuneus	↑ (structural size)		↓ (parenting stress - negative cues)