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Exploring inter-brain coherence between fathers and infants during maternal storytelling: an fNIRS hyperscanning study
  • Xin Zhou,
  • Xuancu Hong,
  • Patrick C.M. Wong
Xin Zhou
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages

Corresponding Author:xinzh91@gmail.com

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Xuancu Hong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages
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Patrick C.M. Wong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages
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Abstract

The current study examined the inter-brain coherence (IBC) between 34 dyads of fathers and infants 7-9 months of age using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We specifically focused on father-infant IBC to broaden the empirical base beyond the mother-infant connections, as the former has received limited attention. There were three conditions: a baseline condition, and two task conditions when the infant and the adult participant jointly listened to maternal storytelling in Cantonese in infant-directed speech (IDS) and adult-directed speech (ADS). Father-infant IBC was compared with stranger-infant IBC in the same experimental settings. Our results found that father-infant IBC was greater in the baseline and ADS conditions but not in the IDS condition, compared to stranger-infant IBC. Further, stranger-infant dyads showed greater IBC in the IDS condition than in the ADS condition, with no significance in father-infant IBC between the two speech conditions. These results identified different IBC mechanisms between the two dyads. The IBC pattern in stranger-infant dyads is driven by neural entrainment to mothers’ speech, whereas father-infant IBC is more resistant to mothers’ behaviors in the co-presence of both parents.
28 Feb 2024Submitted to Infant and Child Development: prenatal, childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood
29 Mar 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
23 Jul 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
12 Aug 2024Editorial Decision: Revise Major
22 Aug 20241st Revision Received
22 Aug 2024Submission Checks Completed
22 Aug 2024Assigned to Editor
03 Sep 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
02 Nov 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
12 Dec 2024Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
13 Dec 20242nd Revision Received
14 Dec 2024Submission Checks Completed
14 Dec 2024Assigned to Editor