Attachment and Adulthood: A Neurobiological Perspective

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Attachment and Adulthood: A Neurobiological Perspective

Tammy D.Schamuhn, MS Candidate

Portland State University

Couns 510

What is Attachment?

        Attachment theory, as defined by Bowlby and Ainsworth, asserts that strong early relationships serve as a secure base from which to go confidently out into the world (Bowlby & Ainsworth, 1991). These fundamental relationships are those that individuals form and try to maintain because they are fundamental to feelings of belonging, security and protection from fear (Sable, 2008).  The research suggests that a secure, close connection is a source of strength and personality integration (Siegal & Hartzell, 2003).
        Research puts forward that healthy development is dependent on secure parental attachment, where in the child or adolescent feels safe enough to explore his or her environment, while knowing his parental figures are accessible and responsive when called upon (Bowlby, 1988). “This secure attachment is associated with the individuals’ ability to connect with others and cope with affective or stressful problems” (Ketterson & Blustein, 1997, p, 14).  Siegal and Hartzell (2003) clarify that when children have primary caregivers who are consistent in their behaviors, are emotionally attuned (the inner state of the child is matched with that of the parent), and respond to the child in such a way that accurately matches
 the child’s signals,  the child consequently feels connected to, understood, and protected. In essence, the child is confidant their caregiver will be responsive and available if they encounter adverse situations (Bowlby, 1988).
        Insecure attachments (
avoidant, anxious-ambivalent, disorganized)         are those attachments where the child’s caregivers are a source of inconsistency, disorientation, or terror. These children has no confidence that when he seeks care that he will be responded to helpfully or if they will be protected if they encounter danger—these children’s experience of the world is overwhelming, frightening, and chaotic (Bowlby, 1988).

What Happens When We Attach?

Attachment Schemas

         Research in the field of neurobiology tells us that the social brain is wired to bond, connect, and make sense of our environment and bodily sensations in relation to others. Schore (1994) contends that though the brain retains some plasticity throughout life, the quality of early caregiving has a particularly significant impact on its development, structure and functioning. 
These early experiences involve the activation of neurons, and in this manner, experience shapes the function of neural activity in the moment, and can potentially shape the continually changing structure of the brain throughout the lifespan (Siegal, 2001). When specific circuits in the brain are activated a variety of mental processes are shaped. The result is a neural map or a specific pattern of neural firing in particular regions that serves to create a mental image of a concept or object. Bowlby (1988) coined this concept
attachment schema. Through attachment experiences children build a model of themselves and others and this model internally guides the expectations and how he or she plans their behaviors towards them. Once constructed these models persevere and operate on the generalized, unconscious level. These schemas persist in a more or less uncorrected and unchanged state even later in life when interacting with people entirely unlike the caregivers (Bowlby, 1988).
        We formulate attachment schemas based generalizations of repeated experiences stored within the implicit memory system. Research tells us that in the first year of life, the infant has available an implicit form of memory that includes emotional, behavioral, perceptual, and bodily forms of memory. The way that the brain readies itself for retrieval of certain memories in response to specific cues is also a part of implicit memory. When implicit memories are activated, they do not have an internal sensation that something is being recalled. “They merely influence our emotions, behaviors, or perceptions directly, in the here and now, without our awareness of their connection to some experience from the past” (Siegal, 2001, p. 74).

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Attachment and Internal Regulation

        
We know that early bonding experiences strengthen networks of the social brain, and that these experiences also promote building of the brain as a whole by stimulating metabolic arousal. These face to face interactions trigger the sympathetic nervous system and increase oxygen consumption and energy metabolism in children.  This then increases production of norepinephrine, endorphins, and dopamine enhancing the child’s pleasure during positive connection (Bretherton, 1992). Furthermore, these experiences enhance formation of biochemical environment in the brain conducive to regulation, growth, and optimal immunological functioning—it is optimal balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal (Cozolino, 2010). ...

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