Infant Attachment and Social Modification of Stress Neurobiology.

Katherine Packard,Regina M Sullivan,Maya Opendak,Haniyyah Sardar,Caroline Davis Soper

doi:10.3389/fnsys.2021.718198

Abstract

Decades of research have informed our understanding of how stress impacts the brain to perturb behavior. However, stress during development has received specific attention as this occurs during a sensitive period for scaffolding lifelong socio-emotional behavior. In this review, we focus the developmental neurobiology of stress-related pathology during infancy and focus on one of the many important variables that can switch outcomes from adaptive to maladaptive outcome: caregiver presence during infants’ exposure to chronic stress. While this review relies heavily on rodent neuroscience research, we frequently connect this work with the human behavioral and brain literature to facilitate translation. Bowlby’s Attachment Theory is used as a guiding framework in order to understand how early care quality impacts caregiver regulation of the infant to produce lasting outcomes on mental health.

Highlights

Our understanding of the impact of stress on neurobiology has its roots in seminal research conducted during the 1940s and 1950s
Work published soon after demonstrated that stress in early life had an even greater impact, with stress within the context of the family featured as damaging – effects which became more obvious with maturation (Bowlby, 1953; Clements, 1956; Ziskind, 1958; Provence and Lipton, 1962)
We focus on the developmental neurobiology of stress-related pathology during infancy and focus on one of the many important variables that can switch outcomes from adaptive to maladaptive outcome: repeated experiences with caregiver presence during infants’ exposure to chronic stress vs. stress without this social context

Summary

Infant Attachment and Social Modification of Stress Neurobiology

Katherine Packard1†, Maya Opendak1,2†, Caroline Davis Soper, Haniyyah Sardar and Regina M. Decades of research have informed our understanding of how stress impacts the brain to perturb behavior. Stress during development has received specific attention as this occurs during a sensitive period for scaffolding lifelong socio-emotional behavior. We focus the developmental neurobiology of stress-related pathology during infancy and focus on one of the many important variables that can switch outcomes from adaptive to maladaptive outcome: caregiver presence during infants’ exposure to chronic stress. While this review relies heavily on rodent neuroscience research, we frequently connect this work with the human behavioral and brain literature to facilitate translation. Bowlby’s Attachment Theory is used as a guiding framework in order to understand how early care quality impacts caregiver regulation of the infant to produce lasting outcomes on mental health

INTRODUCTION

NEURAL NETWORK SUPPORTING SOCIAL BUFFERING

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF REDUCED SOCIAL BUFFERING FOLLOWING MALTREATMENT?