Theories Of Attachment

Parental behavior is part of a larger conceptual framework called attachment behavior . This serves to protect and nourish offspring until they can function independently. Attachment and separation are critical factors in the study of developmental psychology and psychodynamic theory. Failure to develop emotional attachment may have significant and irreversible mental health consequences. Primate attachment or bonding is solidified by social behavior such as grooming and close physical proximity. Like humans, rhesus monkeys are highly social, group living primates that exhibit variation in social status and patterns of social affiliation. Attachment behavior is at the heart of all social activity and the predominate activity of humans. Such

This could include pup retrieval, licking/grooming, and infant suckling which triggers prolactin release and milk production. The MPA is sensitive to the maternal behavior activating effects of prolactin. P and E is able to initiate nest building, while prolactin maintains behavior. In some species, paternal males will secrete prolactin. In male’s prolactin production is not regulated by E. stimuli from the young triggers prolactin to release in paternal males. In humans, high levels of oxytocin and prolactin secretion is associated with paternal behavior. Oxytocin is regulated by E which is interacting with P. In VMH and BNST, OT receptors increase just before parturition. Without OT, maternal behavior may not occur. Oxytocin given to E-primed female rats will facilitate the onset of maternal retrieval and care. An oxytocin antagonist has significant inhibitory effects when given only before the onset of maternal care. Oxytocin, produced in the hypothalamus, is released in left auditory cortex to activate maternal retrieval. Memories associated with infant cries seem to be linked to neurons in the auditory cortex, part of the neocortex region of the brain. Species differences in OT receptor densities in the brain reflect differences in paternal behavior. In humans, OT administration to fathers enhances father and infant social

Bonding is an enduring, selective, psychological attachment to another individual. Oxytocin appears to facilitate prosocial behavior. OT increases positive social behaviors in rhesus newborns. Some evidence that OT influences dopamine activity, which is involved in the reinforcement processes. DA cell bodies are found in the ventral tegmental area and project to forebrain regions including the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex. A neurobiological system involving the DA-VTA is associated with reward and reinforcement. Differences in rearing experiences influences epigenetic mechanisms linked to stress and behavior. In humans, prenatal exposure to third trimester maternal depression/anxious mood was associated with increased methylation at the CpG-rich region of the glucocorticoid receptor gene, NR3C1. Increased NR3C1 methylation at this site was associated with increased salivary cortisol stress at 3 months. Methylation of the NR3C1 gene in newborns is sensitive to prenatal maternal mood and may offer a potential epigenetic process linking antenatal maternal mood and altered HPA stress reactivity in