{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T23:38:28Z","timestamp":1772753908524,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]],"date-time":"2022-05-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1652400000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"post-doctoral Fellowship within MIUR programme framework \u201cDipartimenti di Eccellenza\u201d (DiPSCO, University of Trento)","award":["RG149\/16"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RG149\/16"]}]},{"name":"post-doctoral Fellowship within MIUR programme framework \u201cDipartimenti di Eccellenza\u201d (DiPSCO, University of Trento)","award":["RT10\/19"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RT10\/19"]}]},{"name":"NAP SUG 2015, Singapore Ministry of Education ACR Tier 1","award":["RG149\/16"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RG149\/16"]}]},{"name":"NAP SUG 2015, Singapore Ministry of Education ACR Tier 1","award":["RT10\/19"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RT10\/19"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Symmetry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Mother\u2013child shared play provides rich opportunities for mutual symmetrical interactions that serve to foster bond formation in dyads. Mutual gaze, a symmetrical behaviour that occurs during direct eye contact between two partners, conveys important cues of social engagement, affect and attention. However, it is not known whether the prefrontal cortical areas responsible for higher-order social cognition of mothers and children likewise exhibit neural symmetry; that is, similarity in direction of neural activation in mothers and children. This study used functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning on 22 pairs of mothers and their preschool-aged children as they engaged in a 10-min free-play session together. The play interaction was video recorded and instances of mutual gaze were coded for after the experiment. Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed that neural asymmetry occurred during mother\u2013child mutual gaze, where mothers showed a deactivation of prefrontal activity whereas children showed an activation instead. Findings suggest that mothers and children may employ divergent prefrontal mechanisms when engaged in symmetrical behaviours such as mutual gaze. Future studies could ascertain whether the asymmetric nature of a parent\u2013child relationship, or potential neurodevelopmental differences in social processing between adults and children, significantly contribute to this observation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/sym14050998","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,15]],"date-time":"2022-05-15T09:48:22Z","timestamp":1652608102000},"page":"998","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Asymmetric Prefrontal Cortex Activation Associated with Mutual Gaze of Mothers and Children during Shared Play"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Atiqah","family":"Azhari","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1586-8350","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Bizzego","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38068 Trento, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5176-2855","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jan Paolo Macapinlac","family":"Balagtas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9835-8232","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kelly Sng Hwee","family":"Leng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9442-0254","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gianluca","family":"Esposito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38068 Trento, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1193","DOI":"10.1093\/scan\/nst105","article-title":"The brain basis of social synchrony","volume":"9","author":"Atzil","year":"2014","journal-title":"Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"162","DOI":"10.1016\/j.copsyc.2017.07.009","article-title":"Bio-behavioral synchrony promotes the development of conceptualized emotions","volume":"17","author":"Atzil","year":"2017","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1080\/03004430.2012.669756","article-title":"Physical and relational aggression in young children: The role of mother\u2013child interactional synchrony","volume":"183","author":"Ambrose","year":"2013","journal-title":"Early Child Dev. Care"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"704","DOI":"10.1597\/12-094.1","article-title":"Early mother-child interaction and later quality of attachment in infants with an orofacial cleft compared to infants without cleft","volume":"50","author":"Habersaat","year":"2013","journal-title":"Cleft-Palate-Craniofacial J."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"898","article-title":"Predictors of mother\u2013child interaction quality and child attachment security in at-risk families","volume":"5","author":"Emer","year":"2014","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bornstein, M.H. (2005). Handbook of Parenting: Volume 4 Social Conditions and Applied Parenting, Psychology Press.","DOI":"10.4324\/9781410612168"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"385","DOI":"10.1177\/0165025409339080","article-title":"Developmental Continuity and Stability of Emotional Availability in the Family: Two Ages and Two Genders in Child-Mother Dyads from Two Regions in Three Countries","volume":"34","author":"Bornstein","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int. J. Behav. Dev."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Garralda, E., and Raynaud, J.P. (2012). Brain, Mind, and Developmental Psychopathology in Childhood, Jason Aronson, Inc."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"629","DOI":"10.1037\/a0033341","article-title":"Parenting and attachment among low-income African American and Caucasian preschoolers","volume":"27","author":"Dexter","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Fam. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neures.2014.11.006","article-title":"Hyperscanning neuroimaging technique to reveal the \u201ctwo-in-one\u201d system in social interactions","volume":"90","author":"Koike","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neurosci. Res."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Legerstee, M., Haley, D.W., and Bornstein, M.H. (2013). The Infant Mind: Origins of the Social Brain, Guilford Press."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S2","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neurenf.2012.04.016","article-title":"Interactive synchrony: A biobehavioral model of mutual influences in the formation of affiliative bonds in healthy and pathological development","volume":"5","author":"Feldman","year":"2012","journal-title":"Neuropsychiatr. L\u2019Enfance L\u2019Adolescence"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1016\/bs.acdb.2020.01.006","article-title":"Mother-child behavioral and physiological synchrony","volume":"58","author":"Bell","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Child Dev. Behav."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1009503409699","article-title":"Methodological issues in the direct observation of parent\u2013child interaction: Do observational findings reflect the natural behavior of participants?","volume":"3","author":"Gardner","year":"2000","journal-title":"Clin. Child Fam. Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.3390\/sym1020215","article-title":"Symmetry in Infancy: Analysis of Motor Development in Autism Spectrum Disorders","volume":"1","author":"Esposito","year":"2009","journal-title":"Symmetry"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"701824","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.701824","article-title":"Interpersonal synchrony in the context of caregiver-child interactions: A document co-citation analysis","volume":"12","author":"Carollo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11407","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-019-47810-4","article-title":"Parenting stress undermines mother-child brain-to-brain synchrony: A hyperscanning study","volume":"9","author":"Azhari","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13290","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1702493114","article-title":"Speaker gaze increases information coupling between infant and adult brains","volume":"114","author":"Leong","year":"2017","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"235","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cortex.2019.11.020","article-title":"The effects of interaction quality on neural synchrony during mother-child problem solving","volume":"124","author":"Nguyen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cortex"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797619878698","article-title":"Infant and Adult Brains Are Coupled to the Dynamics of Natural Communication","volume":"31","author":"Piazza","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1109\/MIS.2011.61","article-title":"Imaging the social brain by simultaneous hyperscanning during subject interaction","volume":"26","author":"Astolfi","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Intell. Syst."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Koike, T., Sumiya, M., Nakagawa, E., Okazaki, S., and Sadato, N. (2019). What makes eye contact special? Neural substrates of on-line mutual eye-gaze: A hyperscanning fMRI study. Eneuro, 6.","DOI":"10.1523\/ENEURO.0284-18.2019"},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Rochat, P. (1999). Early socio-emotional development: Contingency perception and the social-biofeedback model. Early Social Cognition: Understanding Others in the First Months of Life, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2016.00082","article-title":"NIRS-Based Hyperscanning Reveals Inter-brain Neural Synchronization during Cooperative Jenga Game with Face-to-Face Communication","volume":"10","author":"Liu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2018.05.060","article-title":"Brain-to-brain synchrony in parent-child dyads and the relationship with emotion regulation revealed by fNIRS-based hyperscanning","volume":"178","author":"Reindl","year":"2018","journal-title":"NeuroImage"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Azhari, A., Gabrieli, G., Bizzego, A., Bornstein, M.H., and Esposito, G. (2020). Probing the association between maternal anxious attachment style and mother-child brain-to-brain coupling during passive co-viewing of visual stimuli. Attach. Hum. Dev., 1\u201316.","DOI":"10.1101\/2020.01.23.917641"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"522","DOI":"10.1080\/17470919.2021.1970016","article-title":"Father-child dyads exhibit unique inter-subject synchronisation during co-viewing of animation video stimuli","volume":"16","author":"Azhari","year":"2021","journal-title":"Soc. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Durnford, J.R., Balagtas, J.P.M., Azhari, A., Lim, M., Gabrieli, G., Bizzego, A., and Esposito, G. (2020). Presence of parent, gender and emotional valence influences preschoolers\u2019 PFC processing of video stimuli. Early Child Dev. Care, 1\u201311.","DOI":"10.31234\/osf.io\/987ws"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Azhari, A., Wong, A.W.T., Lim, M., Balagtas, J.P.M., Gabrieli, G., Setoh, P., and Esposito, G. (2020). Parents\u2019 past bonding experience with their parents interacts with current parenting stress to influence the quality of interaction with their child. Behav. Sci., 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/bs10070114"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bizzego, A., Gabrieli, G., Azhari, A., Setoh, P., and Esposito, G. (2021). Computational methods for the assessment of empathic synchrony. Progresses in Artificial Intelligence and Neural Systems, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-15-5093-5_47"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2910","DOI":"10.2307\/1131759","article-title":"Solitary and Collaborative Pretense Play in Early Childhood: Sources of Individual Variation in the Development of Representational Competence","volume":"67","author":"Bornstein","year":"1996","journal-title":"Child Dev."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Azhari, A., Bizzego, A., and Esposito, G. (2022). Parent-Child Dyads with Greater Parenting Stress Exhibit Enhanced Inter-brain Synchrony During Shared Play. ResearchSquare.","DOI":"10.21203\/rs.3.rs-1173314\/v1"},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Gamer, M., Lemon, J., Fellows, I., and Singh, P. (2017, March 22). Solomon Coder (Version Beta: 22 March 2017): A Simple Solution for Behaviour Coding. Available online: https:\/\/solomon.andraspeter.com."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Gamer, M., Lemon, J., Fellows, I., and Singh, P. (2012, September 28). Various Coefficients of Inter-rater Reliability and Agreement. Available online: https:\/\/cran.r-project.org\/web\/packages\/irr\/irr.pdf."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1177\/1094428116658959","article-title":"Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) for Assessing Cerebral Cortex Function During Human Behavior in Natural\/Social Situations: A Concise Review","volume":"22","author":"Quaresima","year":"2019","journal-title":"Organ. Res. Methods"},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"011002","article-title":"Non-neuronal evoked and spontaneous hemodynamic changes in the anterior temporal region of the human head may lead to misinterpretations of functional near-infrared spectroscopy signals","volume":"5","author":"Morais","year":"2017","journal-title":"Neurophotonics"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heares.2013.11.007","article-title":"Auditory cortex activation to natural speech and simulated cochlear implant speech measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy","volume":"309","author":"Pollonini","year":"2014","journal-title":"Hear. Res."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"D280","DOI":"10.1364\/AO.48.00D280","article-title":"HomER: A review of time-series analysis methods for near-infrared spectroscopy of the brain","volume":"48","author":"Huppert","year":"2009","journal-title":"Appl. Opt."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105004","DOI":"10.1117\/1.JBO.18.10.105004","article-title":"General equation for the differential pathlength factor of the frontal human head depending on wavelength and age","volume":"18","author":"Scholkmann","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Opt."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"314","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2017.06.018","article-title":"Frontal temporal and parietal systems synchronize within and across brains during live eye-to-eye contact","volume":"157","author":"Hirsch","year":"2017","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"401","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2015.09.076","article-title":"Neural substrates of shared attention as social memory: A hyperscanning functional magnetic resonance imaging study","volume":"125","author":"Koike","year":"2016","journal-title":"Neuroimage"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"156","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2012.00156","article-title":"Oscillatory Brain Correlates of Live Joint Attention: A Dual-EEG Study","volume":"6","author":"Lachat","year":"2012","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e12667","DOI":"10.1111\/desc.12667","article-title":"Infants\u2019 visual sustained attention is higher during joint play than solo play: Is this due to increased endogenous attention control or exogenous stimulus capture?","volume":"21","author":"Wass","year":"2018","journal-title":"Dev. Sci."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18903","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-76044-y","article-title":"Intrinsic brain activity associated with eye gaze during mother-child interaction","volume":"10","author":"Kuboshita","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1177\/016502548000300206","article-title":"Toward Interactive Synchrony: The Gaze Patterns of Mothers and Children in Three Age Groups","volume":"3","author":"Farran","year":"1980","journal-title":"Int. J. Behav. Dev."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1016\/S0163-6383(84)80056-9","article-title":"Timing and transitions in mother-infant gaze","volume":"7","author":"Messer","year":"1984","journal-title":"Infant Behav. Dev."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"867","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2013.00867","article-title":"Prefrontal cortex and executive function in young children: A review of NIRS studies","volume":"7","author":"Moriguchi","year":"2013","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"672","DOI":"10.1148\/radiology.216.3.r00au37672","article-title":"Normal Brain Development and Aging: Quantitative Analysis at in Vivo MR Imaging in Healthy Volunteers","volume":"216","author":"Courchesne","year":"2000","journal-title":"Radiology"},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12176","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.3479-08.2008","article-title":"A Structural MRI Study of Human Brain Development from Birth to 2 Years","volume":"28","author":"Knickmeyer","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"301","DOI":"10.1016\/S0896-6273(01)00583-9","article-title":"Immature Frontal Lobe Contributions to Cognitive Control in Children","volume":"33","author":"Bunge","year":"2002","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"F9","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-7687.00235","article-title":"A neural basis for the development of inhibitory control","volume":"5","author":"Durston","year":"2002","journal-title":"Dev. Sci."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-clinpsy-081219-102046","article-title":"Social Behavior as a Transdiagnostic Marker of Resilience","volume":"17","author":"Feldman","year":"2021","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopsycho.2011.07.002","article-title":"Eye contact and arousal: The effects of stimulus duration","volume":"88","author":"Helminen","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biol. Psychol."}],"container-title":["Symmetry"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-8994\/14\/5\/998\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T23:10:10Z","timestamp":1760137810000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-8994\/14\/5\/998"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]]},"references-count":53,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5]]}},"alternative-id":["sym14050998"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/sym14050998","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-8994"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2073-8994","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]]}}}