Table 1.
Neuroimaging studies of functional and structural neural correlates of attachment
| Reference | Participants | Mean age (s.d.) | Neuroimaging technique | Attachment assessment | Main results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vrticka et al. (2008) | 16 HC (8 females) |
23.66 (3.6) | fMRI (1.5T) | AAQ | Positive social stimuli activated striatum and VTA regardless of attachment style but avoidant attachment style reduced the activation of these areas. Negative social stimuli (i) activated left amygdala regardless of attachment style and (ii) correlated positively with anxious attachment style. Striatum and amygdala are activated in secure attachment. |
| Benetti et al. (2010) | 32 HC (17 females) |
25.2 (4.3) | sMRI (1.5T) | ECR | Anxious attachment style correlated negatively with GM volume in the anterior temporal area and positively with GM volume in left lateral orbital gyrus. Number of affective losses correlated positively with GM volume in the cerebellum. |
| Quirin et al. (2009) | 22 HC (11 females) |
24.09 (3.68) | sMRI (3T) | ECR | Bilateral hippocampal GM volume correlated negatively with avoidant attachment style. Anxious attachment style correlated negatively with the left hippocampus GM volume. |
| Vrticka et al. (2012) | 19 HC (19 females) |
24.82 (4.0) | fMRI (3T) | RSQ | Avoidant attachment style correlated positively with prefrontal and ACC activations in response to social negative scenes. Dorsolateral PFC, left amygdala, SMA and ventral caudate activated in response to social negative scenes during reappraisal and suppression of social positive emotions. Anxious attachment correlated positively with activations in the right amygdala and left parahippocampal cortex for social negative and positive stimuli respectively. |
| Vrticka et al. (2014) | 33 HC (14 females) |
15.69 (1.67) | fMRI (3T) | RSQ | Social feedback processing activated the PFC, ventral ACC, anterior insula, caudate, amygdala and hippocampus. Females, older participants and individuals with anxious attachment style showed stronger activations when exposed to incongruent feedback. Males and participants with avoidant attachment style showed stronger activations when exposed to congruent social feedback. |
| Scheider-Hassloff et al. (2016) | 195 HC (97 females) |
24.0 (3.2) | sMRI/fMRI (3T) | CAS RSQ |
Insecure attachment in childhood correlated with a higher level of anxious attachment style and alexithymia, increased GM volume in amygdala and decreased volume in superior parietal lobule, temporal pole and bilateral frontal areas. |
| Labek et al. (2016) | 25 HC (12 females) |
22.7 (1.8) | fMRI (3T) | AAP | Attachment-related stimuli activated inferior parietal lobes, MTG and anterior medial PFC. |
| Schneider-Hassloff et al. (2015) | 164 HC (78 females) |
23.97 (3.09) | fMRI (3T) | RSQ | Avoidant attachment style correlated positively with task-related activations in the right amygdala, MFG, mid-cingulate cortex, superior parietal lobule, bilateral IFG. Anxious attachment style followed the opposite pattern. |
| Zhang et al. (2018) | 106 HC (57 females) |
20.8 (1.55) | sMRI (3T) | ECR | Avoidant attachment style correlated negatively with MTG and right parahippocampal GM volume. Anxious attachment style correlated negatively with the right ventral ACC GM volume. Avoidant attachment style correlated negatively and positively with the right middle occipital gyrus GM volume in females and males, respectively. |
| Acosta et al. (2018) | 192 HC (96 females) |
24.1 (3.2) | sMRI (3T) | RSQ | Anxious attachment style correlated with left insula and the pars opercularis of the left IFG GM volume. The left IFG was negatively and positively correlated with avoidant and anxious attachment styles, respectively. |
AAC, anterior cingulate cortex; AAP, Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (George and West, 2012); AAQ, Adult Attachment Questionnaire (Hazan and Shaver, 1987); CAS, Attachment Security in Childhood (Collins and Read, 1990); ECR, Experiences in Close Relationship questionnaire (Brennan et al., 1998); fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging; GM, grey matter; HC, healthy controls; IFG, inferior frontal gyrus; MFG, middle frontal gyrus; MTG, middle temporal gyrus; sMRI, structural magnetic resonance imaging; PFC, prefrontal cortex; RSQ, Relationship Scale Questionnaire (Griffin and Bartholomew, 1994); SMA, supplementary motor area; VTA, ventral tegmental area.