Neural Responses to Faces of Attachment Figures and Unfamiliar Faces: Associations With Organized and Disorganized Attachment Representations

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Abstract

The neural response to faces of attachment figures compared with unfamiliar faces still remains elusive. In particular, the modulation of the neural response by the organized (secure, insecure) compared with disorganized attachment representation of the subject investigated is unknown. For the present study, 38 healthy participants (age range, 21-71 years) were recruited. Three attachment groups (secure, n = 14; insecure, n = 15; disorganized, n = 9) were assessed using the Adult Attachment Projective. The participants were shown pictures of the faces of attachment figures (romantic partner/parents) and unfamiliar faces in a blocked factorial design, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Showing pictures of attachment figures activated parts of a neural social judgment network, important for inferring others' affective and cognitive mental states (e.g., inferior parietal lobe/superior temporal gyrus) in securely attached healthy individuals. In contrast, disorganized attached individuals with the experience of unresolved attachment trauma in their biography showed deactivations in these areas.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)112-120
Seitenumfang9
FachzeitschriftThe journal of nervous and mental disease
Jahrgang207
Ausgabenummer2
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Feb. 2019
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

Scopus 85060618627
ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/150329468

Schlagworte

Schlagwörter

  • Adult, Aged, Cerebral Cortex/diagnostic imaging, Facial Recognition/physiology, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Nerve Net/diagnostic imaging, Object Attachment, Parents, Psychological Trauma/diagnostic imaging, Sexual Partners, Social Perception, Spouses, Young Adult