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Term 5: Behavioral Science > 5/28- Neurobiology of Attachment > Flashcards

5/28- Neurobiology of Attachment Flashcards

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Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Molecular mechanisms underlying maternal attachment?

A
  • Dopamine and reward processing
  • Oxytocin and social affiliation
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2
Q

In what region is DA involved in reward processing?

When is it released?

Responsible for development of what?

A
  • Ventral striatum
  • Important in rat maternal behavior; released during mother-pup interaction
  • Important factor in cognitive development and establishing reward-based contingencies
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3
Q

In what region is oxytocin involved?

Responsible for development of what?

A
  • Peripheral and central brain
  • Critical for the social and maternal behavior; MATERNAL CAREGIVING (critical for initiation of maternal care)–rats
  • In ewes, oxytocin results in selective bonding with lamb
  • Social memory (rats sniffing around new rats less upon 2nd introduction; when oxytocin blocked, demonstrated introductory behavior each time)
  • Anxiolytic properties
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4
Q

Result of interplay in oxytocin/dopamine systems?

A
  • Oxytocin neurons may also connect with the brain’s dopamine “reward” system, resulting in changes in “long-term conditioned preferences”
  • Basically, oxytocin starts things and dopamine promotes its continuation
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5
Q

What is attachment?

A
  • Innate biological system to ensure protection and reproduction
  • Even kids exposed to poor quality care develop attachment (although particular behavior/type of attachment differs based on quality of caregiving)
  • Individual differences in attachment “security” are associated with maternal care and infant social/emotional development
  • (Attachment theory originally formulated by John Browlby in 1969)
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6
Q

What is a typical baby’s response to a predictable pattern of decreased maternal attention/neglect?

A
  • Initially cries more
  • Eventually cries much less; passive baby
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7
Q

What is a typical baby’s response to an unpredictable pattern of decreased maternal attention/neglect?

A

(e. g. working multiple jobs, domestic abuse)
- Constantly irritable child (b/c sometimes crying elicits a response)

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8
Q

Model of maternal brain responses: what neuroendocrine pathways are involved in the development of maternal caregiving behavior?

A

Dopamine:

  • Mesocorticolimbic pathway (reward)
  • Nigrostriatal pathway (action contingencies- you feel the reward now what do you do about it)
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9
Q

What are the three levels of neurodevelopment in these paths?

A
  • Forebrain- “frontal cortex”- cognitive, analytical processing
  • Limbic brain- “striatum”- emotion processing
  • Midbrain- “meso/nigro”
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10
Q

What are 3 level components of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine pathway?

A

“Reward”:

- Medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)

- Ventral striatum

- Ventral tegmental area (VTA)

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11
Q

What are 3 level components of the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway?

A

“Action Contingencies”

- Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)

- Dorsal striatum

- Substantia nigra (SN)

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12
Q

Where/at what level does the oxytocin pathway feed in?

A

Into the mesocorticolimbic pathway via the hypothalamus

  • Ventral striatum
  • Ventral tegmental area
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13
Q

What else feeds into the substantia nigra (Nigrostriatal Path)?

A

Ventral striatum

(So both ventral and dorsal striatums)

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14
Q

Study examining these neuroendocrine pathways in human mothers?

A

- Visit 1: pregnancy (1st time pregnant women enrolled during 3rd TM and surveyed for own pattern of attachment)

- Visit 2: videotaping (about 7 mo, studies and peripheral blood hormone levels at separated baseline, with mother interaction, and separation again)

  • Visit 3: scanning (fMRI responses to pictures of baby and stranger’s baby: happy, sad, neutral) - Visit 4: follow up (measuring infant attachment with strange procedure)
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15
Q

What does fMRI map?

A

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

  • Allows for time course of human brain activity to be imaged (as indicated by blood flow to that area)
  • Stimulus -> neural pathway -> hemodynamics
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16
Q

What was the pattern of response for own vs. stranger’s smiling baby?

A

Dorsal striatum (nigrostriatal)

  • significant rise in signal for own vs. unknown baby’s smiling face
17
Q

What is the significance of a child with secure or insecure/dismissing mothers?

A

Measure of someone’s adaptiveness to their environment; secure and insecure not necessarily “good” and “bad”

(each is good for that baby’s unique environment; although not always adaptive in adulthood/long term)

18
Q

Group comparisons between secure and insecure/dismissing mothers

A

Secure

  • Increased breastfeeding duration (NS trend)
  • Less mother-infant separation at 6 mo

No significant group differences with respect to:

  • Maternal SES, race, education, or IQ
  • Self-reported parenting stress
  • Pre or post-natal depression or pscyhopathology risk
  • Mother or infant temperament
  • Infant development at 14 mo
19
Q

Brain responses to smiling faces in secure vs. insecure/dismissing mothers?

A

Secure: activated many reward circuits (mesocorticolimbic path)

  • Medial PFC
  • Orbitofrontal cortex
  • Ventral striatum

Insecure/dismissing: activated more nigrostriatal path

  • Dorsolateral PFC
20
Q

Brain responses to sad faces in secure vs. insecure/dismissing mothers?

A

Secure: still reward-based response (mesocorticolimbic path)

  • Ventral striatum

Insecure/dismissing: activated more nigrostriatal path

  • Dorsolateral PFC
  • Anterior insula (also activated in response to physical/emotional pain and disgust)— seeing own baby in distress activates distress in themselves (decreased ability to respond to and soothe)
21
Q

Change in peripheral oxytocin with mother-infant interaction with secure vs. insecure mothers?

A

(Baseline -> free play -> mirror interaction -> baseline post)

Increase in oxytocin during engagement with baby for secure vs. insecure mothers

22
Q

Oxytocin levels corresponded to activity of what in the brain?

A
  • Hypothalamus/pituitary region activity
  • Ventral striatum activation (again showing interplay between oxytocin and DA systems)
23
Q

Modified still-face and instant affect experiment phases?

A
  • Phase 1: normal interaction (can see but not interact)
  • Phase 2: still-face; completely emotionless, but eye contact
  • Phase 3: recovery (observing baby’s adaptation back to normal)
24
Q

What is the infants affect during these different phases of the still-face experiment?

A

- Negative affect: big rise during still-face, and not really recovering afterward

- Positive affect: big drop during still-face with some bounce back during recovery

25
Q

What is the biggest marker of attachment pattern (secure vs. insecure mothers) in the recovery phase of the still-face experiment?

A

The mother expressing thoughts about the baby’s feelings/what was going on in the baby’s mind; mom’s ability to vocalize to indicated understanding of baby’s feelings/thoughts (e.g. Wasn’t that strange? What do you think about that?)

Sidenote: most secure mother babies remained looking at mom while insecure would look at themselves in the mirror

26
Q

What were the difference between attachment and mirroring (direct facial/gestural, vocal, and intention) for secure vs. insecure mothers during the still-face experiment?

A
  • Facial/gestural mirroring: no difference for any of the three phases
  • Vocal mirroring: no difference for any of the three phases
  • Intention mirroring: BIG significant difference for the three phases (much more for secure mothers)

Classifying by this intention mirroring response correlated 73% with INFANT class (results of strange situation)

27
Q

How strongly do mother and infant attachment patterns correlate?

A

73% match

  • 65% of secure mothers have secure infants
  • 71% of insecure mothers have insecure infants
28
Q

Mothers with secure attachment demonstrated what hormonal/behavioral responses and to what stimuli?

A
  • Increased DA reward responses in the brain on seeing their infant’s face
  • Increased oxytocin response on interacting with their infant
  • More attuned vocal communication with their infant
  • More likely to have children with “secure” attachment

(There is also intergenerational transmission of mother-infant attachment)

29
Q

Elements of the cycle of intergenerational transmission of mother-infant attachment?

A
  • Maternal caregiving environment: pre [stress/trauma] and postnatal
  • Neuroendocrine development of infant (DA, oxytoxin)
  • Infant attachment behavior (strange situation procedure)
  • Ongoing environmental influences (other relationships)
  • Adult attachmet patterns (adult attachment interview)
  • Maternal brain and endocrine response (fMRI for DA, peripheral blood for oxytocin)

And now we’re back to:

  • Maternal caregiving environment….
30
Q

What is a central factor at play in many of the elements of transmissio of mother-infant attachment?

A

Genetic variation and epigenetic adaptation!

Shaped by:

  • maternal caregiving environment
  • ongoing environmental influences

Shape:

  • neuroendocrine development
  • infant attachment behavior
  • adult attachment patterns
  • maternal brain and endocrine response

Term 5: Behavioral Science (24 decks)

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