Using a Developmental Ecology Framework to Align Fear Neurobiology Across Species. Review uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Children's development is largely dependent on caregiving; when caregiving is disrupted, children are at increased risk for numerous poor outcomes, in particular psychopathology. Therefore, determining how caregivers regulate children's affective neurobiology is essential for understanding psychopathology etiology and prevention. Much of the research on affective functioning uses fear learning to map maturation trajectories, with both rodent and human studies contributing knowledge. Nonetheless, as no standard framework exists through which to interpret developmental effects across species, research often remains siloed, thus contributing to the current therapeutic impasse. Here, we propose a developmental ecology framework that attempts to understand fear in the ecological context of the child: their relationship with their parent. By referring to developmental goals that are shared across species (to attach to, then, ultimately, separate from the parent), this framework provides a common grounding from which fear systems and their dysfunction can be understood, thus advancing research on psychopathologies and their treatment.

publication date

  • February 20, 2019

Research

keywords

  • Behavior, Animal
  • Child Development
  • Fear
  • Learning
  • Object Attachment
  • Parent-Child Relations

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC7219957

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85065590260

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1017/S095457941800007X

PubMed ID

  • 30786246

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 15