The Neurobiology of Attachment: From Infancy to Clinical Outcomes.

Attachment theory was developed by John Bowlby in the 1950s. He defined attachment as a specific neurobiological system that resulted in the infant connecting to the primary caretaker in such a way to create an inner working model of relationships that continues throughout life and affects the future mental health and physical health of the infant. Given the significance of this inner working model, there has been a tremendous amount of research done in animals as well as humans to better understand the neurobiology. In this article the neurobiology of early development will be outlined with respect to the formation of attachment. This article will review what we have begun to understand as the neurobiology of attachment and will describe how the relationship with the primary caretaker affects the infant in a way leading to neurobiological changes that later in life affect emotional responses, reward, and perception difficulties that we recognize as psychiatric illness and medical morbidity.