CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 190Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorAttachment and Relationship DynamicsChild Abuse and Trauma

Developing a neurobehavioral animal model of infant attachment to an abusive caregiver

Open access
Raineki, Charlis, Moriceau, Stephanie, Sullivan, Regina M.·2010·Biological Psychiatry
DOI 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.12.019PMC PMC3929962
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Background Both abused and well cared for infants show attachment to their caregivers, although the quality of that attachment differs. Moreover, the infant's attachment to the abusive caregiver is associated with compromised mental health, especially under stress. In an attempt to better understand how abuse by the caregiver can compromise mental health, we explore the neural basis of attachment in both typical and abusive environments using infant rats, which form attachments to the mother through learning her odor. Here, we hypothesize that the neural circuitry for infant attachment differs based on the quality of the attachment, which can be uncovered during stressful situations.Methods We used infant rats to compare infant attachment social behaviors and supporting neurobiology using natural maternal odor, as well as two odor-learning attachment paradigms: odor-stroke (mimics typical attachment) and odor-.5 mA shock conditioning (mimics abusive attachment). Next, to uncover differences in behavior and brain, these pups were injected with systemic corticosterone. Finally, pups were reared with an abusive mother to determine ecological relevance.Results Our results suggest that the natural and learned attachment odors indistinguishably control social behavior in infancy (approach to the odor and interactions with the mother). However, with corticosterone injection, pups with an abusive attachment show disrupted infant social behavior with the mother and engagement of the amygdala.Conclusions This animal model of attachment accommodates both abusive and typical attachment and suggests that pups' social behavior and underlying neural circuitry may provide clues to understanding attachment in children with various conditions of care.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.12.019

Cites

81 of 81 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Translational studies show that manipulating the type and timing of early stressors leads to persistent alterations in amygdala development and function.

    “In accord with this hypothesis, translational studies show that manipulating type and timing of early stressors leads to persistent alterations in amygdala development and function (10–12).”

    From Disorganized attachment in infancy predicts greater amygdala volume in adulthood (2016) · cites this paper as [12]

  • In animal models, low maternal responsiveness during infancy is a potent stressor associated with alterations in infant development, including amygdalar effects, that persist into adulthood.

    “In particular, animal models indicate that low maternal responsiveness (LMR) during infancy is a potent stressor, associated with a host of alterations in infant development, including amygdalar effects, that persist into adulthood (10–12, 16).”

    From Disorganized attachment in infancy predicts greater amygdala volume in adulthood (2016) · cites this paper as [12]

  • Early stress-related dendritic growth in the amygdala may resist change.

    “Thus, this work adds to the evidence from animal models that early stress-related dendritic growth in the amygdala may be resistant to change (10–12, 15).”

    From Disorganized attachment in infancy predicts greater amygdala volume in adulthood (2016) · cites this paper as [12]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [60]Levine S Plasma free corticosterone response to electric shock in rats stimulated in infancy Science 1962 135 795 796 14464660
  2. [73]Fisher AE The effects of differential early treatment on the social and exploratory behavior of puppies [doctoral dissertation] 1955 University Park, PA Pennsylvania State University
  3. [75]Harlow H Harlow M Schrier A Harlow H Stollnitz F The affectional system Behavior of Non-human Primates 1965 New York Academic Press

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Raineki, C., Moriceau, S., & Sullivan, R. M.
Affiliations
Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (US)
Corresponding author
Raineki, Charlis
ORCID
Venue
Biological Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-06
Volume
67
Issue
12
Pages
1137-1145
ISSN
0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.12.019
PMC
PMC3929962
OpenAlex
W2050959523
Cited by
190
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 9
FWCI
15.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (DC009910)
  • National Science Foundation (IOB-0850527)
  • Leon Levy Foundation
  • Hope for Depression Foundation
  • Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
Keywords
infant attachment, child abuse, maternal odor, corticosterone, amygdala, social behavior, infant rats, stress and mental health
MeSH terms
Amygdala, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Child Abuse, Conditioning, Classical, Corticosterone, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Maternal Behavior, Object Attachment, Odorants, Olfactory Bulb, Social Behavior, Stress, Psychological, Caregivers, Maze Learning, Rats, Long-Evans, Models, Animal, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review