Adult attachment style is associated with cerebral μ‐opioid receptor availability in humans
Open accessAbstract
Human attachment behavior mediates establishment and maintenance of social relationships. Adult attachment characteristically varies on anxiety and avoidance dimensions, reflecting the tendencies to worry about the partner breaking the social bond (anxiety) and feeling uncomfortable about depending on others (avoidance). In primates and other mammals, the endogenous μ‐opioid system is linked to long‐term social bonding, but evidence of its role in human adult attachment remains more limited. We used in vivo positron emission tomography to reveal how variability in μ‐opioid receptor (MOR) availability is associated with adult attachment in humans. We scanned 49 healthy subjects using a MOR‐specific ligand [11 C]carfentanil and measured their attachment avoidance and anxiety with the Experiences in Close Relationships‐Revised scale. The avoidance dimension of attachment correlated negatively with MOR availability in the thalamus and anterior cingulate cortex, as well as the frontal cortex, amygdala, and insula. No associations were observed between MOR availability and the anxiety dimension of attachment. Our results suggest that the endogenous opioid system may underlie interindividual differences in avoidant attachment style in human adults, and that differences in MOR availability are associated with the individuals’ social relationships and psychosocial well‐being. Hum Brain Mapp 36:3621–3628, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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PET and genetic studies have linked β-endorphin (μ-opioid) receptor variation with attachment style.
“Positron emission tomography (PET) and genetic studies have linked β -endorphin ( μ -opioid) receptor variation with attachment style (31, 32)”
From Variation in the β-endorphin, oxytocin, and dopamine receptor genes is associated with different dimensions of human sociality (2017) · cites this paper as [32]
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μオピオイド受容体遺伝子(OPRM1)変異は社会的拒否への気質感受性と神経感受性と関連する
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- Authors
- Nummenmaa, L., Manninen, S., Tuominen, L., Hirvonen, J., Kalliokoski, K. K., Nuutila, P., Jääskeläinen, I. P., Hari, R., Dunbar, R. I. M., & Sams, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Turku (FI)
- Aalto University (FI)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Human Brain Mapping
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-06-05
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 3621-3628
- ISSN
- 1065-9471 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-0193
- PMC
- PMC6869236
- OpenAlex
- W1813448369
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 52 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 16.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Human Brain Mapping (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- aivoAALTO Project of the Aalto University
- Academy of Finland (265917 (to L.N.), 138145 (to I.P.J.), and 131483 (to R.H.))
- European Research Council (ERC) (313000 (to L.N.), 232946 (to R.H.), 295663 (to R.D.))
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- adult attachment, attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, endogenous opioid system, carfentanil, thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex, social bonding, individual differences, interpersonal relationships
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Carbon Radioisotopes, Female, Fentanyl, Humans, Individuality, Male, Middle Aged, Object Attachment, Psychological Tests, Surveys and Questionnaires, Receptors, Opioid, mu, Radiopharmaceuticals, Positron-Emission Tomography, Young Adult
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