We found a positive effect of treatment (OT > placebo) on processing of targets with higher BS in the left IFJ. The IFJ is located in the frontolateral cortex between the premotor and the prefrontal cortex and has been implicated in cognitive control30,31. Recent research further demonstrated its specific involvement in the control of selective visual attention32, action perception33 and the detection of behaviorally salient cues34. In addition, the IFJ has been associated with the understanding of action35, which may be considered as one basis of social cognition and empathy. Previous studies also detected increased activation during processing of infant faces in areas near our IFJ cluster. Caria and colleagues36 located activation in the precentral cortex (BA 6; MNI coordinates: 36–6 45) in the contrast of “unknown infant > adult faces”. A study on synchrony and specificity between the maternal and paternal brain found activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) for both sexes in response to own-infant-parent-interaction videos37. Finally, the IFG has also been related to OT- induced emotional empathy38. In our study, the activation of the IFJ was limited to babies with a high BS. Previous observations indicating that babies with stronger BS were treated preferentially39 and perceived as cuter40,41 provide some space for speculation, that the stronger BS could provoke an increased motivation to act. The findings of Glocker et al.10 who also found activation in the precentral gyrus (MNI coordinates: −42 0 29; −46 6 33; −51 8 36) across the three BS conditions, which was located near our cluster, could also provide indications for this speculation. Yet, it is difficult to distinguish between participants who searched for the target or avoided the distractors, which makes it difficult to interpret the difference between the OT group (positive parameter estimates) and the placebo group (negative parameter estimates). This would be of great interest and should be taken into account in a future study.