Early Attachment and the Development of Social Communication: A Neuropsychological Approach

Abstract

Social communication forms the foundation of human relationships. Social communication, i.e., the appropriate understanding and use of verbal and non-verbal communication within a social context, profoundly impacts mental health across the lifespan and is also highly vulnerable to neurodevelopmental threats and social adversities. There exists a strong interconnection between the development of language and other higher cognitive skills, mediated, in part, through the early attachment relationship. Consideration of how attachment links to brain development can help us understand individuals with social communication difficulties across the lifespan. The early attachment relationship supports the development of the foundational constructs of social communication. In this paper, a neuropsychological perspective was applied to social communication, which integrated evidence from early attachment theory, examining the underpinnings of social communication components identified by the SoCom model, namely socio-cognitive, socio-emotional, and socio-linguistic constructs. A neuropsychological perspective underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. This should also inform approaches to prevention, policy, intervention, and advocacy for individuals with or at risk for social communication impairments, as well as their families.

The Unknown World of My Stuffed Animal: Effects of the Presentation of Social Networks in Virtual Space on the Social Presence of Stuffed Animals

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The link between social communication and mental health from childhood to young adulthood: A systematic review

“…In order to tailor intervention that aims to improve social communication skills in an individual child or adolescent further empirical research and a synthesis of available studies that investigate the dynamic interaction between neurobiological, neuropsychological (e.g., social cognition, social interaction, executive functioning) and environmental factors (e.g., history of maltreatment, quality of parent-child interaction, reactive attachment difficulties) from infancy to young adulthood is required ( 59 – 61 ). The inclusion of pathways to social communication deficits was beyond the scope of this review.…”

Possible roles of deep cortical neurons and oligodendrocytes in the neural basis of human sociality

“…Sociality is formed through relationships with others, and accumulating social experience leads to higher levels of sociality (Kappeler et al 2015 ; Sachser et al 2013 ; Tomasello 2020 ). Sociability begins with the formation of attachment to the caregiver after birth, and advanced sociability is acquired during different stages of growth from childhood (Tomasello 2020 ; Cascio et al 2019 ; Jethava et al 2022 ; Vivanti and Nuske 2017 ). Impairment in attachment formation during childhood negatively affects children’s social development (Teicher et al 2016 ).…”