Abstract
When being placed into more benign environments like foster care, children from adverse rearing backgrounds are capable of forming attachment relationships to new caregivers within the first year of placement, while certain problematic social behaviors appear to be more persistent. Assuming that early averse experiences shape neural circuits underlying social behavior, neurophysiological studies on individual differences in early social-information processing have great informative value. More precisely, ERP studies have repeatedly shown face processing to be sensitive to experience especially regarding the caregiving background. However, studies on effects of early adverse caregiving experiences are restricted to children with a history of institutionalization. Also, no study has investigated effects of attachment security as a marker of the quality of the caregiver-child relationship. Thus, the current study asks how adverse caregiving experiences and attachment security to (new) caregivers affect early- and mid-latency ERPs sensitive to facial familiarity processing. Therefore, pre-school aged foster children during their second year within the foster home were compared to an age matched control group. Attachment was assessed using the AQS and neurophysiological data was collected during a passive viewing task presenting (foster) mother and stranger faces. Foster children were comparable to the control group with regard to attachment security. On a neurophysiological level, however, the foster group showed dampened N170 amplitudes for both face types. In both foster and control children, dampened N170 amplitudes were also found for stranger as compared to (foster) mother faces, and, for insecurely attached children as compared to securely attached children. This neural pattern may be viewed as a result of poorer social interactions earlier in life. Still, there was no effect on P1 amplitudes. Indicating heightened attentional processing, Nc amplitude responses to stranger faces were found to be enhanced in foster as compared to control children. Also, insecurely attached children allocated more attentional resources for the neural processing of mother faces. The study further confirms that early brain development is highly sensitive to the quality of caregiving. The findings are also relevant from a developmental perspective as miswiring of neural circuits may possibly play a critical role in children's psycho-social adjustment.
Highlights
In the last decades, a growing body of research has focused on the effects of early adverse experiences on neurobiological functioning to explain psycho-social adjustment and later health outcomes (e.g., Pechtel and Pizzagalli, 2011)
Applying a neurophysiological approach by comparing high and low risk samples, the current investigation could show that facial processing—that is fundamental to adequate psychosocial functioning—is sensitive to early caregiving experiences
Integrating results regarding ERP responses to faces at different stages during the time course of facial familiarity processing, we found that recognizing a familiar face elicits an increased neural response as early as the N170 time window suggesting a strong mental representation
Summary
A growing body of research has focused on the effects of early adverse experiences on neurobiological functioning to explain psycho-social adjustment and later health outcomes (e.g., Pechtel and Pizzagalli, 2011). Foster children have been found to lack an age-appropriate reticence around strangers, referred to as disinhibited social engagement (Zeanah et al, 2004; Oosterman and Schuengel, 2008; Pears et al, 2010; Van Den Dries et al, 2012; Jonkman et al, 2014; Lawler et al, 2014), which tends to persist despite improvements in attachment security (Chisholm, 1998; Smyke et al, 2002; O’Connor et al, 2003; Rutter et al, 2007; Zimmermann, 2015). Recent evidence suggests that atypical brain activity (i.e., cortical hypoactivation) may be associated with this behavioral pattern (Tarullo et al, 2011; Mesquita et al, 2015). This emphasizes the role of neurophysiological studies when studying effects of early adverse experiences on behavioral development
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