Grandmaternal caregiving is associated with a distinct multi-voxel neural representation of grandchildren in the parental motivation circuit.

ABSTRACT: Grandmothers enhance grandchild survival and maternal health through caregiving. Comparative evidence suggests that human grandmotherhood reflects a unique life history strategy promoting the inclusive fitness of post-reproductive females. Despite its evolutionary importance, the proximate neural mechanisms supporting grandmaternal caregiving remain unclear. This study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivariate approaches to investigate how grandmaternal brains encode information about grandchildren and translate it into caregiving. Forty-seven grandmothers (age = 59.1 ± 7 years) completed an fMRI task viewing photos of a grandchild, the grandchild's parent, unfamiliar individuals, and nonhuman objects. Multi-voxel activation patterns associated with these stimuli w

SUBMITTER: Lee M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12077294 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature