Inhibitory control, a form of self-regulation, may support sensitive parenting, but has been understudied in new fathers despite their pronounced risk for stress and mental health challenges. This study probed the neural correlates of inhibitory control and its associations to first-time fathers' postpartum mental health, focusing on depressive symptoms, state anxiety, and perceived stress. Six months after their child’s birth, 38 fathers self-reported on their mood, anxiety, and stress, and performed a Go/No-Go fMRI task while listening to three sets of sounds (infant cry, pink noise, and silence). Fathers’ behavioral inhibition accuracy was consistent across the sound conditions, but their patterns of neural activation varied. Compared to the pink noise condition, fathers showed heightened engagement in prefrontal regulatory regions when self-regulating during the infant cry and silent conditions. When examining correct trials only, results in visual motor area and primary somatosensory cortex emerged only for infant cry and not for pink noise and silence. Moreover, fathers reporting higher levels of postpartum depression, state anxiety, and perceived stress showed greater activation in prefrontal regions when inhibiting during infant cry or silence. This study is the first to underscore the complex interplay between the neural mechanisms related to inhibitory control and postpartum mental health and stress across varied auditory context, laying the groundwork for future research.

中文翻译：

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婴儿哭泣与父亲产后心理健康背景下抑制控制的神经相关性

抑制性控制是一种自我调节形式，可能支持敏感的养育方式，但在新爸爸身上却没有得到充分研究，尽管他们面临压力和心理健康挑战的明显风险。这项研究探讨了抑制控制的神经相关性及其与初为人父的产后心理健康的关系，重点关注抑郁症状、状态焦虑和感知压力。孩子出生六个月后，38 位父亲自我报告了自己的情绪、焦虑和压力，并在听三组声音（婴儿哭声、粉红噪音和沉默）时执行 Go/No-Go 功能磁共振成像任务。父亲的行为抑制准确性在声音条件下是一致的，但他们的神经激活模式有所不同。与粉红噪音条件相比，父亲在婴儿哭泣和安静条件下进行自我调节时，前额调节区域的参与程度更高。当仅检查正确的试验时，视觉运动区和初级体感皮层的结果仅针对婴儿哭泣而出现，而不针对粉红噪音和沉默。此外，报告产后抑郁、状态焦虑和感知压力水平较高的父亲在婴儿哭泣或沉默期间进行抑制时，前额叶区域表现出更大的激活。这项研究首次强调了与抑制控制、产后心理健康和不同听觉背景下的压力相关的神经机制之间复杂的相互作用，为未来的研究奠定了基础。