Instinctively responding to maternal face is an evolutionary function of enhancing survival and development. However, because of the confounding nature of familiarity, little is known concerning the neural mechanism involved in maternal face recognition. We had a rare opportunity to examine Mosuo preschool children who were raised in a matrilineal society in which mothers and aunts represent equally familiar faces to the children. The participants were exposed to photographs of their mother's face, aunt's face, and an unfamiliar female's faces during electroencephalography (EEG) recording. The EEG results showed that the mother's face elicited a more negative N1 component, a larger left N170 component, and a larger P300 component; both the mother's and aunt's faces elicited a larger right N170 component. These results suggest that the emotional attachment between mother and child has neural ramifications across three successive face processing stages that are distinguished from the neural effects of facial familiarity.
Keywords: Electrical neuroimaging; Event-related potentials; Face processing; Familiarity; Love; Mother–child bond.
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