Cited by 689Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorAttachment and Relationship DynamicsHuman-Animal Interaction Studies

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Brain substrates of infant-mother attachment: contributions of opioids, oxytocin, and norepinephrine.

Nelson, Eric E, Panksepp, Jaak·1998·Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review recent work concerning the psychobiological substrates of social bonding, focusing on the literature attributed to opioids, oxytocin and norepinephrine in rats. Existing evidence and thinking about the biological foundations of attachment in young mammalian species and the neurobiology of several other affiliative behaviors including maternal behavior, sexual behavior and social memory is reviewed. We postulate the existence of social motivation circuitry which is common to all mammals and consistent across development. Oxytocin, vasopressin, endogenous opioids and catecholamines appear to participate in a wide variety of affiliative behaviors and are likely to be important components in this circuitry. It is proposed that these same neurochemical and neuroanatomical patterns will emerge as key substrates in the neurobiology of infant attachments to their caregivers.

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“The separation-distress subsystem overlaps with the physical-pain circuit (Eisenberger, Lieberman, & Williams, 2003; Nelson & Panksepp, 1998) and is down-regulated by activation of the social-reward/contact-comfort subsystem.”
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“Opioids are known to influence various components of maternal behavior, including placentophagia (Mayer et al. 1985), maternal motivation ( Nelson and Panksepp 1998; Panksepp et al.1994), as well as the amount of time the dam spends nursing her pups (Byrnes et al. 2000).”
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Cerebral blood flow changes in patients with conversion disorder
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“Approach and avoidance behaviors are posited to emerge from mechanisms operative in the spinal cord (Berntson et al., 2003; Schutter et al., 2011), brain stem (Berridge and Peciña, 1995; Nelson and Panksepp, 1998; Challis et al., 2013) and cortex (Nasser and McNally, 2012).”
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Predictors of Maternal Responsiveness
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“…brain attempts to maintain an optimum balance in opioid tone, thereby (a) increasing social behavior (accompanied by endogenous release of opioids) when the system is blocked and (b) decreasing social behavior (and opioid release) when the system is artificially activated (Nelson & Panksepp, 1998).”
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Voluntary Enhancement of Neural Signatures of Affiliative Emotion Using fMRI Neurofeedback
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“polar cortex [40,41], which is known to enable sophisticated social cooperation [11,29,38,42].”
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“Specific neurotransmitter systems including dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin (Bridges et al., 1996; Nelson and Panksepp, 1998; Szczypka et al., 2001), and neuroendocrine factors (e.g., prolactin (Lisk et al., 1969)) have been identified as important for nesting behavior.”
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Psychobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder in pediatric injury patients: A review of the literature
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“…it has been suggested that there are two major components of attachment mechanisms in mammals—one mediating senses of social-absence, and the other senses of social engagement, with the neural circuits involved in the two being quite different (Panksepp et al., 1997; Nelson & Panksepp, 1998).”
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“Neuroendocrine systems play a role in maternal bonding (Nelson & Panksepp, 1998 ).”
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“After parturition, opioids regulate attachment behaviors and mother– infant bonding by reducing separation anxiety and increasing motivation for social interaction (Nelson & Panksepp, 1998).”
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Affiliation, reward, and immune biomarkers coalesce to support social synchrony during periods of bond formation in humans
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“The opioid system is associated with social rewards, affiliation and attenuation of the reaction to social separation (Berridge and Robinson 2003) and has been proposed to be critical during the initial stages of mother-young attachment (Nelson and Panksepp 1998; Panksepp et al. 1994; Swain et al. 2011).”
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Adolescent Opiate Exposure in the Female Rat Induces Subtle Alterations in Maternal Care and Transgenerational Effects on Play Behavior
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“In a number of species, including humans and non-human primates, endogenous opioids modulate affiliative behaviors, including mother–infant attachment (Panksepp et al., 1994; Kalin et al., 1995; Nelson and Panksepp, 1998; Saltzman and Maestripieri, 2010).”
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Arousal Regulation, Emotional Flexibility, Medial Amygdala Function, and the Impact of Early Experience: Comments on the Paper of Lewis et al.
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No. 355-Physiologic Basis of Pain in Labour and Delivery: An Evidence-Based Approach to its Management
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“, 2010); two of the neurobiological systems regulating the development and expression of social behaviors (Nelson and Panksepp, 1998).”
Opioids and attachment in rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) abusive mothers.
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“Thus, infant attachment and adult attachment appear to share a common neurochemical substrate (Nelson & Panksepp, 1998).”
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“…aesthetic experiences remind us of our humanness — our profound social attachments and loving dependencies, our massive social inter-relatedness to other people, feelings that are partly created by endogenous brain opioids and oxytocin (Nelson & Panksepp, 1998; Panksepp, 1981; Young & Wang, 2004).”
Background

Authors: Nelson, E. E., & Panksepp, J.
Affiliations: Indiana University Bloomington (US)
Bowling Green State University (US)
Corresponding author: Nelson, Eric E
ORCID: Nelson, Eric E
Venue: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 1998-05
Volume: 22
Issue: 3
Pages: 437-452
ISSN: 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/s0149-7634(97)00052-3
OpenAlex: W1981657115
Cited by: 688
References: 207
Citations by year: 2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 47 · 2012: 29
FWCI: 3.25
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
Keywords: infant-mother attachment, social bonding, oxytocin, endogenous opioids, norepinephrine, vasopressin, catecholamines, maternal behavior, affiliative behavior, social memory, sexual behavior, neurobiology of attachment, rats
MeSH terms: Animals, Brain, Brain Chemistry, Humans, Mother-Child Relations, Norepinephrine, Oxytocin, Opioid Peptides, Rats

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Brain substrates of infant-mother attachment: contributions of opioids, oxytocin, and norepinephrine.

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