The DOI matches its Crossref record; 93 of the 93 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The neurobiology of attachment
Abstract
It is difficult to think of any behavioural process that is more intrinsically important to us than attachment. Feeding, sleeping and locomotion are all necessary for survival, but humans are, as Baruch Spinoza famously noted, "a social animal" and it is our social attachments that we live for. Over the past decade, studies in a range of vertebrates, including humans, have begun to address the neural basis of attachment at a molecular, cellular and systems level. This review describes some of the important insights from this work.
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“Moreover, they have also been shown to inhibit other behavioral systems that are involved in resilience, such as exploration, affiliation, and caregiving (Insel & Young, 2001; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007; Neumann, 2008), which might also partially explain these individuals' difficulties in entering lasting relationships (including relationships with mental health care professionals) and the”
From A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder (2009) · cites this paper as Insel & Young, 2001
In the citing paper
“For instance, oxytocin and vasopressin have been shown to inhibit aversion of both female and male rodents to infant pups, as well as leading to a number of affiliative behaviors, including caregiving behavior (Insel & Young, 2001).”
From A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder (2009) · cites this paper as Insel & Young, 2001
In the citing paper
“Experiments in prairie voles have revealed central roles for oxytocin in modulating a variety of emotional and social behaviors [164–166].”
From Consensus Paper: Pathological Role of the Cerebellum in Autism (2012) · cites this paper as [165]
In the citing paper
“Research has repeatedly implicated the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) as one of the key hormones involved in parent-infant bonding in mammals, as well as in a range of social and affiliative behaviors (3–7).”
From Oxytocin and the development of parenting in humans (2010) · cites this paper as [7]
In the citing paper
“Healthy maternal sensitivity is characterized by the ability to reliably recognize and respond to infant cues, thus initiating appropriate caregiving responses”
From Neuromodulation of maternal circuits by oxytocin (2019) · cites this paper as Insel and Young, 2001
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin is responsible for various prosocial functions in mammals such as parental care, pair bonding and empathy”
From Neuromodulation of maternal circuits by oxytocin (2019) · cites this paper as Insel and Young, 2001
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin mediates a broad spectrum of prosocial behaviors such as empathy, pair bonding, mating and social reward (Dölen et al., 2013; L. W. Hung et al., 2017; Insel and Young, 2001; Nakajima et al., 2014; Rogers-Carter et al., 2018).”
From Neuromodulation of maternal circuits by oxytocin (2019) · cites this paper as Insel and Young, 2001
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin also acts in the brain to increase the salience of social information and enable alloparenting in mice1,9,12–14.”
From Oxytocin neurons enable social transmission of maternal behaviour (2021) · cites this paper as [1]
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin1,2,9–15, which is released by the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), is a critical maternal hormone.”
From Oxytocin neurons enable social transmission of maternal behaviour (2021) · cites this paper as [1]
In the citing paper
“In primates, including humans, non-biological parents can learn to care for children after instruction or observation of experienced caretakers and infants1–8.”
From Oxytocin neurons enable social transmission of maternal behaviour (2021) · cites this paper as [1]
In the citing paper
“These rodents have served as the primary animal model for studying the formation of pair bonds (Insel and Young, 2001).”
From Oxytocin, motivation and the role of dopamine (2014) · cites this paper as Insel and Young, 2001
In the citing paper
“One other mammalian species that has been shown to form pair bonds are prairie voles (Insel and Young, 2001).”
From Oxytocin, motivation and the role of dopamine (2014) · cites this paper as Insel and Young, 2001
In the citing paper
“which are known to regulate a range of social behaviors, from parental care to social recognition of conspecifics (13-18).”
From Social Interaction Elicits Activity in Glutamatergic Neurons in the Posterior Intralaminar Complex of the Thalamus (2024) · cites this paper as [16]
Citations
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“Although social experience is critical for the normal development of the brain and behaviour in mammals, we know remarkably little about how social attachment, as opposed to general environmental enrichmen”
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Ferguson, J. N., Young, L. J., Hearn, E. F., Matzuk, M. M., Insel, T. R., & Winslow, J. T. (2000) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/77040 · Cited by 1,130
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A role for central vasopressin in pair bonding in monogamous prairie voles
Winslow, J. T., Hastings, N., Carter, C. S., Harbaugh, C. R., & Insel, T. R. (1993) · Nature · doi:10.1038/365545a0 · Cited by 948 · cited 1×
“Indeed, all of the major behavioural aspects of monogamy can be facilitated in the prairie vole by central injections of either oxytocin or vasopressin, even in voles that do not have the opportunity to mat”
BackgroundSelf-citation
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Sorted by citations
Oxytocin increases trust in humans
Kosfeld, M., Heinrichs, M., Zak, P. J., Fischbacher, U., & Fehr, E. (2005) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature03701 · Cited by 3,690
Porges, S. W. (2007) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.009 · Cited by 3,415
Heinrichs, M., Baumgartner, T., Kirschbaum, C., & Ehlert, U. (2003) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00465-7 · Cited by 2,091
Structural and molecular interrogation of intact biological systems
Chung, K., Wallace, J., Kim, S.-Y., Kalyanasundaram, S., Andalman, A. S., Davidson, T. J., Mirzabekov, J. J., Zalocusky, K. A., Mattis, J., Denisin, A. K., et al. (2013) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature12107 · Cited by 2,008
The Social Brain: Neural Basis of Social Knowledge
Adolphs, R. (2009) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163514 · Cited by 1,827
Metadata
- Authors
- Insel, T. R., & Young, L. J.
- Affiliations
- Emory University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Insel, Thomas R.
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience
- Published
- 2001-02
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 129-136
- ISSN
- 1471-003X (ISSN-L)
- 1471-0048
- OpenAlex
- W2165266294
- Cited by
- 1,173
- References
- 93
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 60 · 2018: 49 · 2017: 51 · 2016: 57 · 2015: 60 · 2014: 74 · 2013: 54 · 2012: 51
- FWCI
- 5.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature reviews. Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- attachment, neurobiology of attachment, social attachment, social behavior, cellular and molecular mechanisms, neural systems
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animals, Newborn, Female, Humans, Learning, Male, Mother-Child Relations, Object Attachment, Oxytocin, Smell
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