AbstractsWomens Studies

Introduction. Numerous studies have suggested that maternal care can influence the development and expansion of an individual's self-esteem. Yet the neural mechanisms of this relationship remain unexplored. Incidentally, it has already been demonstrated that a brain region, namely the Hippocampus (HC) is associated with both self-esteem and maternal care. Thus suggesting that there may be a three-way relationship. This also provided the impetus to speculate that a similar interaction could be observed in other brain regions like for example, the Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC). Therefore, the aim of this study is to scrutinize the possible relationship between mother care, self-esteem and neural correlates including the DLPFC, MPFC and HC, with emphasis on how normal variations in mother care could have consequences for the relationship between self-esteem and particularly the prefrontal cortices. Methods . Fifty-one subjects were recruited on the basis of their maternal scores, as assessed by the Parental Bonding Index and were consequently assigned to either a high mother care (MOCA) or low MOCA group. Their self-esteem was measured through various self-esteem scales including the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. The structural integrity of the regions was ascertained through the use of both manual and semi automated segmenting procedures. Results . Initial Bivariate correlations reported a negative association between DLPFC volumes and self-esteem in the high MOCA group while HC was positively associated with self-esteem in both high and low MOCA groups. There were no associations to report for the MPFC. Additional analysis revealed that the Biregional association was sex specific. Discussion. For the first time, we were successful in associating DLPFC volume with self-esteem. In addition, we successfully replicated the association between self-esteem and HC volume. This study could provide an indication how of maternal care could have a sex specific affect not only on the evolution of self-esteem, but also on the regions they may be targeting.