Attachment Modulates Neural Responses to Social Exclusion vs. Inclusion: An fMRI Cyberball Study in Children
M J S Krasberg-Schoett1,2,3, Ralf Deichmann4, Tamara Fischmann2,3,5
1Department of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Social Neuroscience
|April 8, 2026
Summary
Children with avoidant attachment show altered brain responses to social rejection, potentially indicating impaired emotion regulation and a heightened expectation of being excluded.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Individual differences in children's attachment styles stem from early caregiver interactions and shape social expectations.
- Avoidant attachment strategies involve suppressing emotions and inhibiting reactions to adversity, particularly in response to social rejection.
- Neural underpinnings of how attachment styles influence responses to social rejection remain largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neural responses to social rejection in children with varying attachment classifications.
- To examine the relationship between attachment dimensions and brain activity during social exclusion using functional MRI.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the Cyberball paradigm were used to assess brain responses.
- Thirty-eight children (aged 9-11 years) were classified using the Child Attachment Interview.
- Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activation was analyzed in relation to social inclusion and exclusion events.
Main Results:
- Social exclusion, compared to inclusion, elicited increased BOLD activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC).
- Higher levels of attachment dismissal (a marker of avoidant attachment) correlated negatively with exclusion-related BOLD activity in the right vlPFC.
- Children with higher dismissal showed greater vlPFC responses during inclusion (fair play) but not during exclusion, suggesting heightened regulatory monitoring.
Conclusions:
- Avoidant attachment in children may be linked to difficulties in emotion regulation and an increased expectation of social rejection.
- Altered neural responses in the vlPFC during social interactions might underlie these attachment-related differences.
- Findings highlight the neurobiological correlates of attachment-related social expectations and emotional processing in childhood.
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