Systematic Review and Meta-analyisis of Functional and Structural Neural Pathways in Attachment

Attachment style is a relatively stable trait throughout life that affects how a person interacts with the environment. So far, many neurological researches have been carried out to understand the neural basis of attachment. In order to compare the results of these studies with each other and obtain the common areas mentioned in the studies, after reviewing the published studies and selecting the articles that were eligable to enter the meta-analysis (11 articles out of 564 articles from the initial search). Published results in attachment studies were analyzed using activation likelihood estimation (ALE). The correction threshold applied for significant clusters was P < .05. In attachment anxiety, ALE analysis showed a positive correlation with activity in the insula, inferior gyrus of the frontal lobe, superior gyrus of the temporal lobe, putamen nuclei, hippocampus and globus pallidus. Also, a negative correlation was observed between attachment anxiety and activity in the middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, and fusiform gyrus. In avoidance, ALE analysis showed a negative correlation with activity in the insula and superior temporal gyrus, and on the other hand, a positive correlation was observed with the middle frontal gyrus, the inferior gyrus of the frontal lobe, and the cingulate gyrus.