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Abstract:
Psychometric research has identified stable traits that predict inter-individual differences in relationship and attachment behavior. Avoidance and anxiety (AV/AX) scales have been developed to quantitatively assess these traits. However, neural mechanisms corresponding to the proposed constructs reflected in av/ax are still poorly defined. The ventral medial orbito-frontal cortex (vmOFC) is implicated in social approach network (SAN) function, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) is related in subserving emotion regulation on social processing . In this study, we examined whether functional connectivity between these regions predicts components of these scales. We employed resting-state functional connectivity and av/ax scores assessed by a personality questionnaire. Participants completed a resting state run and the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire (ECR-R). Using resting-state BOLD, we assessed correlations between structures of SAN (Fig. 1) and those related subserving emotion, establishing single subject connectivity summary scores. Summary scores were correlated with components of av/ax scores. Results demonstrate a novel correlation between AV and resting-state connectivity between vmOFC and lOFC (Fig. 2), implying that spontaneous synchrony between social approach processing regions may play a role in defining personality characteristics related to attachment.
