Neural Mechanisms of Grief Regulation

Freed, Peter; Yanagihara, Ted K.; Hirsch, Joy; Mann, J. John

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.01.019

Cited by 75 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Early and chronic stress and trauma are well known to predict health outcomes, impacting on energy regulating hormonal systems (Danese & McEwen, 2012; Davis et al, 2013b). Significant trauma in both humans and animal models leads to activation of biological stress response systems, including the HPA axis, and temporary cognitive disorganization, especially in brain areas associated with memory, including the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex (Bremner, 2005; Freed, Yanagihara, Hirsch, & Mann, 2009; Hostinar et al, 2013; Landers & Sullivan, 2012; Najib, Lorberbaum, Kose, Bohning, & George, 2004). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment and the Metabolic Syndrome in Midlife

Davis

Usher

Dearing

et al. 2014

Psychosomatic Medicine

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Objective Adult attachment discourse patterns and current family relationship quality were examined as predictors of health behaviors and number of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) criteria met. Methods A sample of 215 White/European American and Black/African American adults, aged 35 to 55, were examined cross-sectionally. Discourse was assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), specifically: 1) coherence, a marker of attachment security, 2) unresolved trauma/loss, a marker of disorganized and distorted cognition related to trauma, and 3) idealization, the tendency to minimize the impact of stressful experiences. Health behaviors of diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol use were also assessed, as were adverse childhood experiences, current depressive symptoms and relationship functioning. MetS includes hypertension, hyperglycemia, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and obesity. Results Using path analysis and accounting for childhood adversity and depressive symptoms, AAI coherence and unresolved trauma or loss were directly linked to number of MetS criteria met (β = −.22 and .21 respectively). Idealization was indirectly linked to MetS through poor diet (β = −.26 and −.36 respectively), predicting 21% of the variance in number of MetS criteria met. Conclusions Attachment representations related to stress appraisal and care-seeking behaviors appear to serve as cognitive mechanisms increasing risk of MetS.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment and the Metabolic Syndrome in Midlife

Davis

Usher

Dearing

et al. 2014

Psychosomatic Medicine

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“…We do not, however, expect attachment to perfectly correlate with the frequency of viewing images. Bereavement research has shown that while the majority of those highly attached to their deceased loved ones are more likely to engage in 'searching behaviors' (which we presume, here, would include revisiting photographs of them when alive), a significant minority avoid all reminders of the deceased -including viewing photographic images of them (see Archer and Winchester, 1994;Freed et al, 2009).…”

Section: Interactions Between Attachment Image-viewing Behavior Andmentioning

confidence: 97%

Evolutionizing Grief: Viewing Photographs of the Deceased Predicts the Misattribution of Ambiguous Stimuli by the Bereaved

White

Fessler

2013

Evol Psychol

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We propose a cognitive-evolutionary model of grief where the function of grief is to reunite a person with an absent partner where this is possible, and where it is not, to disengage and reorientate the individual from the lost agent. The present study investigates the potential factors that affect reunion-promoting symptoms by focusing on the misattribution of external stimuli to the deceased by the bereaved -which we term 'false recognitions'. We propose three factors that relate to false recognitions: First, we propose that strong attachment to the deceased predisposes one to false recognitions; second, we predict that viewing photographs of the deceased (that were taken when the individual was alive) perpetuates false recognitions; and third, we propose that time elapsing since the death diminishes the frequency of false recognitions. In a survey of 164 recently bereaved (<25 months) pet owners in the U.S. and U.K., predictions concerning the association of the predictor and outcome variables were confirmed. The strongest predictor was the frequency of viewing photographic images of the deceased, a pattern consonant with our premise that, being evolutionarily novel, realistic photographs are treated as reliable cues that the agent remains a viable relationship partner. This research demonstrates the potential of evolutionary theory to inform mainstream bereavement research.

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“…The usual interpretation is that the brain activation patterns reflect an emotional state of craving but a fundamental problem with this interpretation is the lack of specificity in the findings. For example, similar brain regions become activated when subjects are shown sexually explicit videos [7] or photographs of loved ones that have passed away [8]. Increased attention or arousal is a major confounding variable in many of these studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A similar pattern of neuronal Fos activation in 10 brain regions following exposure to reward- or aversion-associated contextual cues in mice

Johnson¹,

Revis²,

Burdick³

et al. 2010

Physiology & Behavior

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JOHNSON, Z.V., A.A. REVIS, M.A. BURDICK, AND J.S. RHODES. A similar pattern of neuronal Fos activation in 10 brain regions following exposure to reward-or aversion-associated contextual cues in mice. PHYSIOL BEHAV 00(0) 000-000, 2009 -Relapse triggered by drug-paired cues is a major obstacle for successful treatment of drug abuse. Patterns of brain activation induced by drugpaired cues have been identified in human and animal models, but lack of specificity poses a serious problem for craving or relapse interpretations. The goal of this study was to compare brain responses to contextual cues paired with a rewarding versus an aversive stimulus in a mouse model to test the hypothesis that different patterns of brain activation can be detected. Mice were trained to associate a common environmental context with an intraperitoneal injection of saline, lithium choride or cocaine. After measuring each animal for conditioned place preference or aversion, mice were reexposed to the context (CS+ or CS−) in absence of the reinforcer to analyze patterns of Fos expression in 10 brain regions chosen from previous literature. Levels of Fos in the cingulate cortex, paraventricular thalamic nucleus, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, and dentate gyrus differed in CS+ versus CS− groups, but the direction of the differences were the same for both lithium chloride (LiCl) and cocaine reinforcers. In the cingulate cortex, Fos was positively correlated with degree of place preference for cocaine or aversion to LiCl whereas in the periaqueductal gray the relationship was positive for LiCl and negative for cocaine. Results confirm Fos responses to reward-or aversionpaired cues are similar but specificity is detectable. Future studies are needed to comprehensively establish neuroanatomical specificity in conditioned responses to drugs as compared to other reinforcers.

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Neural Mechanisms of Grief Regulation

Cited by 75 publications

References 58 publications

Attachment and the Metabolic Syndrome in Midlife

Attachment and the Metabolic Syndrome in Midlife

Evolutionizing Grief: Viewing Photographs of the Deceased Predicts the Misattribution of Ambiguous Stimuli by the Bereaved

A similar pattern of neuronal Fos activation in 10 brain regions following exposure to reward- or aversion-associated contextual cues in mice

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