‘It is the right brain that is engaged in the infant’s recognition of the mother’s face, and the perception of arousal-inducing maternal facial expressions, is psychobiologically attuned to the output of the mother’s right hemisphere, which is involved in the expression and processing of emotional information and in nonverbal communication’ (Allan Schore, Retrieved 22nd September, 2015 from http://somaticpsychotherapy.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=45)
‘Fire together, wire together, survive together‘ Allan Schore
I have always been interested in attachment theory and early development and how our beginning impacts all later experience across the lifespan. While studying psychology relevant courses and chapters on Bowlby, Ainsworth, Main, etc, were favourites; however, more recently while doing a course on interpersonal neurobiology, I got acquainted with Allan Schore’s work, who is considered a pioneer in integrating social, biological, psychological and psychoanalytic theory and is referred to as the ‘American Father of Attachment Theory’ or the ‘American Bowlby’. Schore argues that the early social environment, mediated by the primary caregiver, influences the evolution of the structures of the infant’s brain. He shows how the maturation of the right brain is influenced by the dyadic interactions of the attachment relationship, which are critical to the individual’s future capacity to self-regulate emotions and cope with stress. His work is grounded in a multi-disciplinary perspective and his theory of affect integrates psychology and neurobiology.
Allan Schore’s lecture – The most important years of our Life: Our Beginning – (Retrieved September 21st, 2015, from http://www.acesconnection.com/g/northern-michigan-aces-action/clip/allan-schore-in-oslo-the-most-important-years-of-our-life-our-beginning-96-min) – is interesting and worth viewing. It is rich in information and examples.
‘The beginning sets the stage for later experience’ (Allan Schore)
In the lecture cited above Allan Schore explains how there has been a shift in the conception of infancy from cognitive to emotional development, and also claims that from the beginning the infant is constantly relating to its social environment. He discusses how interpersonal neurobiology allows us to understand how early emotional experience and attachment relationships impact later experience. He adds that now there is a consensus of early development and its enduring impact on our life. Allan Schore expands on the significance of the dyadic interaction between the primary caretaker and the child. He beautifully refers to this interaction between mother and baby as the co-regulation of each other’s nervous systems – each other’s physiology and brain states. He further talks about our right brain and its implication in our capacity to regulate our emotions and connect with others. He also mentions that early experience is stored in the right brain, not as explicit declarative memory, but as implicit memory, which is dominant in the first three years. Schore adds that it’s not until the second year that the left hemisphere even begins its maturation, which means that all the (dis-regulating) attachment experiences are stored in the right hemisphere. Furthermore, he explains that meaning making is not only made through the left brain, as previously believed. In addition, Allan Schore talks about the political implications of this knowledge. He supports that ‘the earliest stages of humanhood are critical because they contain within them the representation of our possible futures’. He claims that it is accepted now that the first 1000 days, including life in the mother’s womb, are extremely significant (this is a period of maximal vulnerability and plasticity), and that the culture that the infant grows up in can either facilitate or inhibit development. He mentions that handing infants into day care at six weeks because there is no maternal leave does not facilitate the infant’s healthy growth and development. Concerning the political ramifications of these discoveries he cites ‘Investing in child development is the foundation for improved health, economic and social outcomes. Not getting the early years right is linked to violent behaviour, depression, higher rates of noncommunicable disease, and lower wages, and it negatively affects a nation’s gross domestic product’ (‘Child well-being in rich countries’, UNICEF report). Finally, he concludes that ‘Emphasis on child development, would put the focus where it belongs, on the end beneficiary, the child-her or his potential for development’ (Science, July 20, 2014, Editorial, A focus on Child Development, K.L. Silver & P.A. Singer – Canada).
**The background of the collage above is a poster of a drawing by the Renaissance painter Raphael (1483-1520)
Nikolaos Gysis and Mary Cassatt have depicted secure attachment moments between the mother and the child beautifully in their oil paintings. You can view the two paintings mentioned, but others as well, at the websites below
Peek-a-boo (1982) oil on canvas by Nikolaos Gysis (1842-1901) – at the National Gallery of Greece at: https://www.newikis.com/en/commons/File:Gysis_Nikolaos_Koukou.jpg
And
Mother about to wash her sleepy child (1880) oil painting (No 180) by Mary Cassatt (1844-1928) http://www.marycassatt.org/home-5-12-1-0.html