Neurobiology of Attachment

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The neurobiology of attachment describes complex neurobiological processes that during the binding behavior to take effect. The attachment behavior has formed in the course of evolution and motivates us to establish and maintain social closeness.

Under favorable internal and external conditions, the neurobiological processes can coordinate positively with one another and activate attachment behavior; under unfavorable conditions they hinder activation. If a situation is experienced as threatening, self-preservation is activated instead of the attachment behavior , which is overriding the attachment behavior in dangerous situations.

The attachment system , the pleasure system and the approach system are brain systems that can interact with one another. They work on the basis of emotion and motivation (emotional-motivational brain systems). (Fisher et al. 2002)

The formation of the bond and brain development

Allan N. Schore describes the formation of the bond on the basis of brain development. He shows that the development of the attachment relationship is closely related to the development of the brain. The maturation of the occipital lobe from the second month of life is associated with a progression in the child's social and emotional behavior. Schore shows that the most important stimulus for the child in the early stages of development is the mother's face. A variety of exchange processes take place between the child and its mother, which also influence the development of the brain in different ways and initiate various learning experiences . This leads to different situations in which the mother influences the child's well-being by interacting with him. Many mothers react intuitively to the level of activity of their children. She reacts to the recovery phases of the child and corrects the intensity of her affective stimulation. This gives the child a positive affect state. This communication between mother and child happens very quickly, so that Schore suspects that it remains largely unconscious . A synchronization is established between the mother and the child in which the mother, at best, reacts very quickly to the different phases of the child's need for activity. This synchronization makes it easier for the child to process information and is of central importance for affective development.

In the first year of life, social communication takes the form of mutual mimic signaling. The mother reacts to the child's external affects and modulates them. It protects the child from over- or under-stimulation and keeps their activity level at an optimal level. It is crucial that the mother downregulates the child's arousal and participates in the interactive reparation. A phase of synchronization of the affective exchange is necessary for this.

These regulatory mechanisms are the precursors of affective attachment. It is important not only to down-regulate negative affect states, but also to frequently create playful and joyful affect states in the child, with an interactive reinforcement.

Schore goes back to the description of the protoconversation by Colwyn Trevarthen, who observed that early childhood regulation takes place through the "coupling" to an adult brain, through emotional communication. Trevarthen's work shows that brain growth is not only influenced by the transaction, but that its growth requires a brain-to-brain interaction that occurs in the context of an intimate, positive affective relationship.

Schore further describes that the right hemisphere develops in front of the left cerebral hemisphere, and thus ceases to be influenced by the right hemisphere of the mother over a longer period of time. The focus of the child's attention is thereby placed on the affectively synchronized, psychobiologically coordinated face-to-face interactions. These, in turn, are directed by the mother's right brain hemisphere, which is responsible for this type of emotional exchange. The child perceives the facial expression and the prosody of the voice in the non-verbal messages . However, this presupposes the mother's ability to regulate her own emotions accordingly.

The orbitofrontal regulatory "system"

The orbitofrontal cortex plays a major role in behavior control, regulation and awareness of mental processes. A decisive maturation phase of this part of the cerebrum takes place in the last quarter of the first year of life. So from a time when the attachment relationship can be measured for the first time with psychological experiments. This part of the frontal brain has some connections to “deeper” brain areas, i.e. areas that are located in evolutionarily older parts of the brain: such as the hypothalamus and the amygdala . At the same time, however, facial and prosodic information can also be processed there. The orbitofrontal cortex thus represents an interface in which both visual and auditory stimuli as well as instinctive behavior and drives can be processed. According to Schore, it can be assumed that both emotional regulatory mechanisms that affect the autonomic nervous system and the processing of stimuli from the “social environment” take place in this brain region. It thus has the importance of an interface that is involved in functions such as social adaptation and control of drive, mood and responsibility. These functions are important characteristics of personality.

The frontolimbic cortex is involved in storing affective responses through its connections with the amygdala. In addition, the prefrontal cortex, as the “highest level” of the limbic system, is involved in the subliminal processing of facial expressions. This system enables you to quickly adapt to a changed environment and to organize what you have learned. The limbic system and especially the orbitofrontal cortex thus have the important function of controlling the acquisition of specific knowledge and regulating interpersonal and social behavior. The orbitofrontal cortex thus has a control function over the entire right “social-emotional brain”.

The right brain hemisphere is dominant in unconscious processes. Especially with the unconscious assessment of affective signals. In addition, the right hemisphere has a greater influence on the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for the “somatic expression of emotional states.” Schore therefore compares Sigmund Freud's assumption that drives are mentally represented as stimuli with the results of brain research that the state of the body is best is represented in the unconscious, right-hemispherical system.

Binding system

Behaviors that conform to the attachment system are territory defense, nest building, welfare, care, and family planning; Associated feelings are calm, a sense of security, social balance, and emotional connectedness.

  • Example for activating the binding system:

The child cries or screams, and the mother goes over, turns to the child, comforts him and sees what he needs. From a neurobiological point of view, the crying of the child in the mother activates the neuroendocrine bonding system, which leads to the release of oxytocin. Oxytocin increases the mother's motivation for appropriate caring behavior. The child stops crying and is socially supported by the mother in regulating emotions. A positively charged internal model of interaction (secure attachment) can develop in the child, and oxytocin, for example, is released in him through the caring behavior of the mother. See also: Attachment Theory

Development of neural connections in the attachment system

The neural interconnections of the attachment system develop in early childhood. In terms of evolution, they should be designed in such a way that the attachment behavior can be activated as easily as possible.

The development of the interconnections is shaped and influenced by certain mechanisms. (Henry & Wang 1998) It is assumed that there is a connection between:

  • early childhood attachment experience
  • stress
  • Brain development
  • cognitive-social-emotional development

The neural connections that a person forms in the course of their childhood are comparable to well-trodden paths that are gladly and preferably used again. They are paved and represent his preference.

Neural connections can be changed over the course of a lifetime. A change is a growth process in the area of ​​the synapses, in which new interconnections can be formed and opened / expanded.

Bonding hormone oxytocin

The presence of oxytocin in the central nervous system (in cooperation with opioid peptides and structures) appears to have a rewarding effect on social and sexual contact. It lowers social inhibitions, creates the basis for trust and promotes the development of close interpersonal relationships. It has an important meaning between sexual partners during sex, an essential meaning in the birth process and influences the behavior between mother and child.

If a mother shows little care for her child, an oxytocin-induced problem is very likely.

Networks and structures with oxytocin and vasopressin are primarily involved in the neural system of attachment behavior . (Carter 1998, Fisher 2002) In animal species with a lifelong partnership, oxytocin receptor binding sites were found to be significantly higher in the limbic and hypotalamic systems .

Self-support system

In order to survive in a dangerous situation, evolution has brought about the system of self-preservation, which takes precedence over attachment behavior in stressful situations. Fight, flight, or freeze are the behaviors that are part of the self-support system. In the area of ​​feelings, there are stress, helplessness, insecurity, powerlessness, feelings of being threatened.

If a person is permanently exposed to situations of stress and helplessness, the neurobiological tendency emerges to activate self-preservation very early and in inappropriate situations. Early childhood stress can lead to a dominance of neurobiological mechanisms of self-preservation over those of the attachment system.

Example of activating the self-support system (fight or flight) in an inappropriate situation

The following example looks at the process between mother and child. In the mother's own stressful childhood experiences, a negative internal model for interaction has developed. Due to early chronic stress, a dominance of the self-support system has developed, which means that it is preferentially activated.

  • Escape of the reference person:

The child cries or screams, the mother closes the door of the nursery and goes away so as not to hear the screaming (flees).

  • Attack by the caregiver:

The child cries or screams, the mother goes there stressed, attacks the child (shakes it, hits it and / or yells at it (e.g. that it should finally be quiet) threats etc.)

From a neurobiological point of view, the crying child in these cases activates the mother's neuroendocrine self-preservation system, stress reaction, instead of the attachment system. This ensures the release of epinephrine / norepinephrine , which increases the motivation to fight or flee.

There is a short-term stress reaction in the child and glucocorticoids are released , they stop crying and the attachment system may be suppressed. The child develops a negatively charged internal model of interaction / (insecure attachment).

  • Result:

Insecure and secure attachment are both responses of the organism. This answer is actively adapted to events that are assessed as unmanageable or manageable. Insecure bonds are linked to the experience of stress and helplessness .

see also

Stress response and pathology

If the coping mechanisms of a person are overwhelmed, stress reactions occur. When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, noradrenaline and adrenaline are released in the adrenal medulla . At the same time, the anterior pituitary gland activates the adrenal cortex to secrete glucocorticoids.

Traumatic, stressful experiences cause long-lasting activation of the sympathetic system with a demonstrably increased proportion of epinephrine / norepinephrine, as well as increased activity of the locus caeruleus .

The locus caeruleus is characterized by a high content of noradrenaline (it is part of the noradrenergic system). All neurons respond to sensory input by releasing transmitters that induce widespread excitement. A function in the context of orientation and attentiveness behavior is assumed.

Frequent and long-lasting stress reactions lead to changes at the level of the central nervous system. The symptoms of the chronic stress reaction are chronically increased alertness ( vigilance ), increased irritability, and dysphoric mood. People with post-traumatic stress disorder , the distribution is of cortisol reduced. This is associated with reduced attachment behavior, for example a disruption in the ability to recognize and express feelings ( alexithymia ).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Allan N. Schore: affect regulation and the reorganization of the self. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2007.
  2. ^ Growth and education of the hemispheres. In: C. Trevarthen: Brain circuits and functions of the mind. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
  3. ↑ Allan N. Schore: affect regulation and the reorganization of the self. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2007, p. 69.
  4. ↑ Allan N. Schore: affect regulation and the reorganization of the self. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2007, p. 70.
  5. ↑ Stephan Schleim: The basis of trust. 2005.
  6. ↑ K. Uvnäs-Moberg, I. Arn, D. Magnusson: The psychobiology of emotion: the role of the oxytocinergic system. In: Int J Behav Med. 12, 2005, pp. 59-65.
  7. ↑ Neuro assistant UNI Tuebingen locus coeruleus (Kandel, among others 1991)