Research Letter: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in romantic attachment
Open accessAbstract
Social attachment is fundamental for its relevant\n\nimpact upon survival and reproduction in several\n\nanimals and particularly so in humans.\n\nRecently, much research efforts have been directed\n\ntowards the understanding of the neurobiological\n\nbasis of social attachment. Besides oxytocin, vasopressin\n\nand specific brain areas, it has also been suggested\n\nthat neurotrophins (NTs) might be involved. NTs are a\n\nfamily of structurally similar proteins including nerve\n\ngrowth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic\n\nfactor (BDNF) amongst others, which play an important\n\nrole in the survival, differentiation and functioning\n\nof neurons (Patapoutian & Reichardt, 2001). Preclinical\n\nstudies suggest that BDNF might be involved in\n\nhippocampal degeneration (Duman et al. 1997) following\n\ndifferent stressors, such as maternal deprivation\n\n(Meaney, 2001). The BDNF changes would\n\nrender adult animals more vulnerable to exaggerated\n\nstress responses and anxious behaviours (Ladd et al.\n\n2004). These findings suggest that BDNF, and perhaps\n\nall NTs, might act as mediators to translate the effects\n\nof environmental stimuli on the development of the\n\n‘ social brain’.\n\nA type of social attachment that seems to be\n\npeculiar to humans is the so-called ‘romantic attachment’,\n\nwhich is the establishment of a relationship\n\nbetween two sexual partners (Hazan & Shaver, 1987).\n\nGiven the lack of information on this topic, we\n\nexplored the possible relationship between BDNF\n\nplasma levels and romantic attachment, as assessed\n\nby the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire\n\n(Brennan et al. 1998), a self-report instrument\n\nfor measuring romantic attachment in adults.
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The early stages of romantic love may be linked to alterations in plasma cortisol, sex steroids, nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and decreased platelet serotonin transporter density.
“In addition, research has shown that the early stages of romantic love may be linked to alterations in plasma levels of cortisol, sex steroids, nerve growth factor (NGF), and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (Marazziti et al., 2009), as well as decreased density of the serotonin transporter in platelets (Emanuele et al., 2006; Marazziti et al., 1999; Marazziti and Canale, 2004), suggesting”
From Oxytocin during the initial stages of romantic attachment: Relations to couples’ interactive reciprocity (2012) · cites this paper as Marazziti et al., 2009
The Discussion (page unavailable) reports an association between plasma BDNF and romantic attachment in women, and reports higher NGF in people who had recently fallen in love. It does not link cortisol or sex-steroid levels to early romantic love, nor establish that its BDNF finding concerns the early stage. The platelet serotonin-transporter claim has separate citations in the citing sentence and is not attributed to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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Cites
Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process.
Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1987) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.52.3.511 · Cited by 8,783 · see citing works
Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process.
Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.3.511 · Cited by 6,247 · cited 1× · see citing works
“A type of social attachment that seems to be peculiar to humans is the so-called ‘romantic attachment ’, which is the establishment of a relationship between two sexual partners (Hazan & Shaver, 1987).”
Background(1998) · Cited by 3,968 · see citing works
Attachment theory and close relationships
(1998) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.35-6513 · Cited by 3,642 · see citing works
Meaney, M. J. (2001) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.1161 · Cited by 2,708 · see citing works
A molecular and cellular theory of depression
Duman, R. S. (1997) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1997.01830190015002 · Cited by 2,129 · see citing works
Trk receptors: mediators of neurotrophin action
Patapoutian, A., & Reichardt, L. F. (2001) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/s0959-4388(00)00208-7 · Cited by 1,070 · see citing works
The impact of age, weight and gender on BDNF levels in human platelets and plasma
Lommatzsch, M., Zingler, D., Schuhbaeck, K., Schloetcke, K., Zingler, C., Schuff‐Werner, P., & Virchow, J. C., Jr. (2004) · Neurobiology of Aging · doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2004.03.002 · Cited by 849 · see citing works
Ladd, C. O., Huot, R. L., Thrivikraman, K. V., Nemeroff, C. B., & Plotsky, P. M. (2004) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.10.007 · Cited by 368 · see citing works
Gender differences in mental health.
Afifi, M. (2007) · PubMed · Cited by 367 · see citing works
The epidemiology of generalized anxiety disorder
Kessler, R. C., Keller, M. B., & Wittchen, H.-U. (2001) · Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/s0193-953x(05)70204-5 · Cited by 337 · see citing works
Gender differences in mental health
Tansella, M. (1998) · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Bergström, A., Jayatissa, M. N., Mørk, A., & Wiborg, O. (2007) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2007.12.025 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
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Piccinni, A., Marazziti, D., Debbio, A. D., Bianchi, C., Roncaglia, I., Mannari, C., Origlia, N., Dell’Osso, M. C., Massimetti, G., Domenici, L., et al. (2008) · Chronobiology International · doi:10.1080/07420520802387773 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Self-citationSasahara, K., Shikimi, H., Haraguchi, S., Sakamoto, H., Honda, S.-I., Harada, N., & Tsutsui, K. (2007) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0710-07.2007 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Raised plasma nerve growth factor levels associated with early-stage romantic love
Emanuele, E., Politi, P., Bianchi, M., Minoretti, P., Bertona, M., & Geroldi, D. (2006) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.09.002 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Picardi A, Bitetti D, Puddu P, Pasquini P (2000). Further evidence of the validity of the Italian version of the questionnaire ' Experiences in Close Relationships ' (ECR) : a self-report instrument to assess adult attachment. Italian Journal of Psychopathology 35, 114-120.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Schneiderman, I., Zagoory-Sharon, O., Leckman, J. F., & Feldman, R. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.12.021 · Cited by 317 · see citing works
The Science of Love: State of the Art
Marazziti, D., Palermo, S., & Mucci, F. (2021) · Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-74046-7_16 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- MARAZZITI, D., RONCAGLIA, I., DEL DEBBIO, A., BIANCHI, C., MASSIMETTI, G., ORIGLIA, N., DOMENICI, L., PICCINNI, A., & DELL'OSSO, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Pisa (IT)
- Neuroscience Institute (IT)
- University of L'Aquila (IT)
- Corresponding author
- MARAZZITI, D.
- Venue
- Psychological Medicine
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2009-08-10
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1927-1930
- ISSN
- 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8978
- OpenAlex
- W2144538640
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 1.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (University of Pisa) (submittedVersion)
- Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca - Università degli Studi dell Aquila (submittedVersion)
- 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
- brain-derived neurotrophic factor, romantic attachment, social attachment, neurotrophins, plasma BDNF levels, social brain, neurobiology of attachment
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Courtship, Female, Humans, Love, Male, Object Attachment, Personality Inventory, Psychometrics, Sex Factors, Statistics, Nonparametric, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
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