Eye Movements and ERP Biomarkers for Face Processing Problems in Avoidant Attachment-style Individuals

Overview

Journal Front Behav Neurosci

Specialty Psychology

Date 2023 Jun 5

PMID 37273280

Authors

Simeng Gu

Yao Jiang

Mei Liu

Yumeng Li

Yuan Liang

Rou Feng

Minghong Xu

Fushun Wang

Jason H Huang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Avoidant attachment poses a serious risk to intimate relationships and offspring. However, there are few studies on the face-processing characteristics and impairments of avoidant individuals based on basic emotion theory. Therefore, this study investigated the issues of emotional processing and deactivation strategies in individuals with avoidant attachment.

Methods: Avoidant and secure individuals were recruited to participate in an eye-tracking experiment and a two-choice oddball task in which they had to distinguish facial expressions of basic emotions (sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and neutral). Eye fixation durations to various parts of the face, including the eyes, nose, and mouth, were measured, and three event-related potentials (ERP) components (P100, N170, and P300) were monitored.

Results: Avoidant individuals could not process facial expressions as easily as secure individuals. Avoidant individuals focused less on the eyes of angry faces when compared to secure individuals. They also exhibited a more positive P100 component and a less negative N170 component when processing faces and a larger amplitude of the P300 component than secure individuals when processing emotional expressions.

Conclusion: Avoidant individuals use deactivating strategies and exhibit specific characteristics at different stages, which are of great significance in social interaction.

Citing Articles

Investigating Eye Movements to Examine Attachment-Related Differences in Facial Emotion Perception and Face Memory.

Torok-Suri K, Nemeth K, Baradits M, Csukly G J Imaging. 2025; 11(2).

PMID: 39997562 PMC: 11856241. DOI: 10.3390/jimaging11020060.

Reduced inhibition control ability in children with ADHD due to coexisting learning disorders: an fNIRS study.

Liu F, Chi X, Yu D Front Psychiatry. 2024; 15:1326341.

PMID: 38832323 PMC: 11146205. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1326341.

References

Peltola M, van IJzendoorn M, Yrttiaho S . Attachment security and cortical responses to fearful faces in infants. Attach Hum Dev. 2018; 22(2):174-188. DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2018.1530684. View

Mikulincer M, Shaver P . Attachment orientations and emotion regulation. Curr Opin Psychol. 2018; 25:6-10. DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.02.006. View

Zheng M, Zhang Y, Zheng Y . The effects of attachment avoidance and the defensive regulation of emotional faces: brain potentials examining the role of preemptive and postemptive strategies. Attach Hum Dev. 2015; 17(1):96-110. DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2014.995191. View

Myers L . The importance of the repressive coping style: findings from 30 years of research. Anxiety Stress Coping. 2009; 23(1):3-17. DOI: 10.1080/10615800903366945. View

Momeni K, Amani R, Janjani P, Majzoobi M, Forstmeier S, Nosrati P . Attachment styles and happiness in the elderly: the mediating role of reminiscence styles. BMC Geriatr. 2022; 22(1):349. PMC: 9022404. DOI: 10.1186/s12877-022-03053-z. View

Levitan R, Atkinson L, Pedersen R, Buis T, Kennedy S, Chopra K . A novel examination of atypical major depressive disorder based on attachment theory. J Clin Psychiatry. 2009; 70(6):879-87. DOI: 10.4088/JCP.07m03306. View

Gu S, Wang F, Patel N, Bourgeois J, Huang J . A Model for Basic Emotions Using Observations of Behavior in . Front Psychol. 2019; 10:781. PMC: 6491740. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00781. View

Fraley R, Brumbaugh C . Adult attachment and preemptive defenses: converging evidence on the role of defensive exclusion at the level of encoding. J Pers. 2007; 75(5):1033-50. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00465.x. View

Wieckowski A, Capriola-Hall N, Elias R, Ollendick T, White S . Variability of attention bias in socially anxious adolescents: differences in fixation duration toward adult and adolescent face stimuli. Cogn Emot. 2018; 33(4):825-831. PMC: 6358515. DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2018.1476322. View

10.

Balas B, Koldewyn K . Early visual ERP sensitivity to the species and animacy of faces. Neuropsychologia. 2013; 51(13):2876-81. PMC: 3865704. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.09.014. View

11.

Huang Y, Chen S, Tseng H . Attachment avoidance and fearful prosodic emotion recognition predict depression maintenance. Psychiatry Res. 2019; 272:649-654. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.12.119. View

12.

Gu S, He Z, Xu Q, Dong J, Xiao T, Liang F . The Relationship Between 5-Hydroxytryptamine and Its Metabolite Changes With Post-stroke Depression. Front Psychiatry. 2022; 13:871754. PMC: 9086784. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.871754. View

13.

Boutsen L, Humphreys G, Praamstra P, Warbrick T . Comparing neural correlates of configural processing in faces and objects: an ERP study of the Thatcher illusion. Neuroimage. 2006; 32(1):352-67. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.03.023. View

14.

Liu X, Liu T, Liu X, Lu X, Li Y . Data on mobile phone use, adaptability and adult attachment among college students in China. Data Brief. 2022; 43:108397. PMC: 9240984. DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.108397. View

15.

Sinclair M, McCullough J, Elliott D, Latos-Bielenska A, Braz P, Cavero-Carbonell C . Exploring Research Priorities of Parents Who Have Children With Down Syndrome, Cleft Lip With or Without Cleft Palate, Congenital Heart Defects, or Spina Bifida Using ConnectEpeople: A Social Media Coproduction Research Study. J Med Internet Res. 2019; 21(11):e15847. PMC: 6902131. DOI: 10.2196/15847. View

16.

Dan O, Raz S . Adult attachment and emotional processing biases: an event-related potentials (ERPs) study. Biol Psychol. 2012; 91(2):212-20. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.06.003. View

17.

Ma Y, Ran G, Chen X, Ma H, Hu N . Adult Attachment Styles Associated with Brain Activity in Response to Infant Faces in Nulliparous Women: An Event-Related Potentials Study. Front Psychol. 2017; 8:627. PMC: 5399025. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00627. View

18.

Zhong R, Li M, Chen Q, Li J, Li G, Lin W . The P300 Event-Related Potential Component and Cognitive Impairment in Epilepsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Front Neurol. 2019; 10:943. PMC: 6728806. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00943. View

19.

Dewitte M . Adult attachment and attentional inhibition of interpersonal stimuli. Cogn Emot. 2011; 25(4):612-25. DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2010.508683. View

20.

Felmingham K, Bryant R, Gordon E . Processing angry and neutral faces in post-traumatic stress disorder: an event-related potentials study. Neuroreport. 2003; 14(5):777-80. DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200304150-00024. View