Biomedical subjects

Anna Buchheim

Publications and source records attributed to Anna Buchheim.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Measuring adult attachment representation in an fMRI environment: concepts and assessment.

Human attachment is defined as a biologically based behavioral system that influences motivational, cognitive, emotional, and memory processes with respect to intimate relationships (parents, life partner, own children). Recent neurobiological studies in this field have in common that they investigated social relationships by examining fMRI neuroimaging patterns while individuals viewed pictures of their beloved relationship partner versus friends, acquaintances, strangers, or mothers' responses to their young children. The researchers showed that the neural underpinnings of these unique intimate emotional states are linked to functionally specialized areas in the brain. Conceptualizing this work from a behavioral systems-attachment theory perspective, these studies did not directly address the subject's attachment representational system. Traditional attachment theory and research has been built on the analysis of attachment narratives, called 'attachment representation'. The Adult Attachment Projective developed by George and West in 2001 is a set of attachment-based schematic pictures. It is constructed to increasingly activate the participant's attachment system in the course of the task, that is, by the introduction of increasingly stressful attachment scenes concluding with pictures of individuals facing death and potential abuse alone. The attachment patterns are evaluated based on individuals' overall verbal response to the picture set. This paper proposes that the AAP is a fruitful measure to use in an fMRI environment to examine brain activation patterns in adults while they are speaking overtly about attachment stories in a standardized setting.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Measuring attachment representation in an FMRI environment: a pilot study.

This exploratory study is the first to examine the neural correlates of attachment status in adults. The study examined the feasibility of assessing attachment narratives in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) environment by challenging subjects to tell attachment stories to specific attachment pictures from the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP) while being scanned. We investigated theoretically derived hypotheses regarding predicted differences in the brain activation patterns of individuals whose attachment status was organized (resolved) versus disorganized (unresolved) with respect to attachment trauma (e.g., as associated with loss through death, abuse, threat of abandonment). Adult attachment was assessed using the AAP, a new representational attachment measure that we thought might be suitable for use in the fMRI environment. This measure was used to obtain a preliminary picture of the neural processes associated with the activation of attachment in 11 healthy female adults. Results are reported from a second-level analysis (p < 0.001 uncorrected) and confirm that the AAP is a feasible measure for use in a neuroimaging environment. Cerebral activation during continuous speech yielded results consistent with the literature. Brain activation was demonstrated in expected visual and semantic brain regions. Furthermore, we found that the rate of articulation was positively correlated with activation in the right superior temporal gyrus. The results of theoretically derived attachment hypotheses showed no differences at the chosen level of significance when comparing the 'all attachment pictures' effect between both groups (resolved vs. unresolved). More interestingly, we found a significant interaction effect between the sequence of pictures and attachment category. Only the unresolved participants showed increasing activation of medial temporal regions, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, in the course of the AAP task. This pattern was demonstrated especially at the end of the AAP task where the pictures are drawn to portray traumatic situations. We interpret these results as confirming our hypothesis, linking unresolved attachment to emotional dysregulation of the attachment system. These results are discussed in relation to assessing attachment in an fMRI environment and future research in this area.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

[Attachment patterns in psychotherapists].

OBJECTIVES: Therapist characteristics are relevant for the outcome of psychotherapies. Attachment measures related to aspects of personality are well introduced. We studied a sample of psychotherapists using attachment interviews and questionnaires. METHODS: 31 psychodynamically oriented psychotherapists who worked in two inpatient institutions were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview. We report the results of the distribution of attachment patterns according the Adult Attachment Prototype Rating (Strauss et al. 1999). RESULTS: 14 therapists (45.2%) showed a secure, 4 (12.9%) an insecure-ambivalent and 7 (22.6%) an insecure-avoidant attachment pattern. A comparably high proportion of therapists was rated as mixed-insecure, a pattern of clinical relevance. Discrepancies to other samples lie in the expected direction. There were no correlations with gender, experience or profession. Depression and insecure attachment did correlate; interpersonal problems showed no connection to attachment status. CONCLUSIONS: The distribution resembles the general population with a slightly lower proportion of secure subjects. Further assessments, among others, will investigate the occurrence of ,,unresolved states of mind" with respect to attachment trauma.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

The German specimen case, Amalia X: empirical studies.

The authors provide a perspective on how psychoanalytic process research can be implemented. This is based on a process research model described elsewhere and summarizes the kinds of studies that can be situated on the four levels of the model. The authors summarize multiple empirical studies that were performed in a completely tape-recorded psychoanalytic therapy and have been published. These studies demonstrate the many modalities empirical process research has available to objectively study psychoanalytic process phenomena and their implication for outcome.

Countertransference↗

PubMed2005

Electrophysiological correlates of error processing in borderline personality disorder.

The electrophysiological correlates of error processing were investigated in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) using event-related potentials (ERP). Twelve patients with BPD and 12 healthy controls were additionally rated with the Barratt impulsiveness scale (BIS-10). Participants performed a Go/Nogo task while a 64 channel EEG was recorded. Three ERP components were of special interest: error-related negativity (ERN)/error negativity (Ne), early error positivity (early Pe) reflecting automatic error processing, and the late Pe component which is thought to mirror the awareness of erroneous responses. We found smaller amplitudes of the ERN/Ne in patients with BPD compared to controls. Moreover, significant correlations with the BIS-10 non-planning sub-score could be demonstrated for both the entire group and the patient group. No between-group differences were observed for the early and late Pe components. ERP measures appear to be a suitable tool to study clinical time courses in BPD.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The differential relevance of attachment classification for psychological disorders].

In recent years, there is a growing acceptance of attachment theory in different fields of psychosocial medicine. This article reviews findings of clinical attachment research - mainly based upon the Adult Attachment Interview - related to three psychological disorders, i.e. Anxiety Disorders, Depression and Borderline Personality Disorder. Whilst there are some indications for a differentiation of de- and hyperactivating attachment strategies connected to depressive disorders, the findings related to anxiety and Borderline Personality Disorders clearly indicate a predominance of preoccupied attachment patterns combined unresolved traumatic experiences. The need for a further differentiation of attachment related features within clinical samples should be considered in the future. Specifically, a differentiation of "organized" vs. "disorganized" attachment representations seems to be promising.

Anxiety Disorders↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The adult attachment projective (AAP) - psychometric properties and new reserach results].

George, West and Pettem developed a new measure, the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP) to assess attachment representation in adults. The AAP is comprised of a set of eight drawings, one neutral scene and seven scenes of attachment situations. Although the pictures were drawn as projective stimuli, the method of administration combines projective and interview techniques in the form of a semi-structured interview. In this paper the coding procedure and attachment classifications of the AAP will shortly be described. The current results on reliability and convergent validity are reported. Developmental studies examining correlates of attachment during the preschool-age years, as well as adult attachment classification and foster mothers' perceptions of their relationship with their at risk foster children give first evidence for the predicitve validity of the AAP. The results of a recent study with dysthymic women using the AAP add to the increasing number of studies that have identified an association between preoccupied attachment and depression. This study encourages the use of the AAP in a broader clinical context. The modified application of the AAP using functional MRI opens a new approach to assess neural correlates of attachment representation in patients with a Borderline Personality Disorder compared to controls, and other clinical groups.

Adult↗