Editorial: A Window Into Early Brain Development: Early Parenting Shapes the Amygdala-Prefrontal Circuitry Development

Abstract

The mammalian brain develops in an intensely social context, with parents typically providing a primary source of early stimulation and regulation for the infant. Across species, patterns of the infant's early interaction with the first social partner-the parent-prospectively predict a wide range of developmental outcomes. Although animal models have paved the way toward understanding how postnatal social interactions affect neurodevelopment and translate into stable patterns of developmental outcomes, the research on corresponding mechanisms in humans is still in its nascent stage because of methodological and ethical challenges.