Dr Pascal Vrticka (PhD, FHEA)
Associate Professor at the Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex (Colchester, UK)
Dr Vrticka researches the social neuroscience of human attachment (SoNeAt): how caregiving, bonding and social connection are supported by brain, body and behaviour across the lifespan.
This work spans experimental research, public understanding of science through Dr Vrticka’s Attachment Insights series and Substack newsletters, as well as applied resources for parents and practitioners through Babygro and Attachment-Informed Leadership (AIL) – see below.
Questions and collaboration enquiries are welcome.
Copyright Information: All text on this website is licensed under CC BY 4.0. All images on this website are licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0. You are welcome to use, share, translate and teach with this material, including in paid training, provided you credit Dr Pascal Vrticka and link to the corresponding webpage. Images may be shared as they are, but not altered. If you adapt the text, please do not present the result as reflecting Dr Pascal Vrticka’s position.
Latest & Featured
Click on image for more information
Attachment Science with
Dr Pascal Vrticka on Substack
Dr Pascal Vrticka’s Substack newsletter on attachment science, including extensions of his Attachment Insights series and other accessible, evidence-based content.
Attachment Insights
Series
Examples of the most prevalent discussions surrounding attachment theory and science as well as the most accurate and up-to-date explanations.
Attachment-Informed Leadership (AIL) on Substack
Dr Pascal Vrticka’s Substack newsletter applying social neuroscience and attachment theory to leadership, exploring how secure relationships shape teams and organisations.
Recent Podcasts & Interviews
Click on image for more information
“Are Dads Wired Differently” Podcast
Dr Vrticka was a guest in the WHY? Podmasters podcast series hosted by Dr Anna Machin. They talked about the many changes that happen in men’s body and brain during the transition to fatherhood. Listen in!
Attachment & Synchrony
Podcast
Dr Vrticka was a guest in the Mommy Brain Revisited podcast series hosted by Dr Jodi Pawluski. They talked about attachment, synchrony, dads, mums, and much more. Listen in!
“6 weeks for dads: meet the experts” Interview
Dr Vrticka was a guest in the “6 weeks for dads: meet the experts” interview series by the Fatherhood Institute as part of their ongoing campaign for improved paternity and reserved parental leave for fathers.
Other Highlights
Click on image for more information
TEDx Talk
On May 14th 2022, Dr Pascal Vrticka participated in the TEDx University of Essex event and gave a talk on “Caring Dads: The Making of Involved and Confident Fathers”. You can now watch the recording on YouTube.
Caring Dads
A new website section is now available specifically dedicated to the social neuroscience of attachment and caregiving in fathers.
Babygro Charity
Dr Pascal Vrticka is an Associate Trustee of the UK Charity Babygro. Together, they published a free book for parents and are offering professional training for individuals working with children and families based on SoNeAt Lab’s research.
Secure Brain
Is your brain securely attached? If you are looking for a concise and accessible summary of the social neuroscience of human attachment, then this series is made for you!
Social Connection
How are attachment, social connection and energy conservation through social allostasis all linked to one another? Check out this accessible summary.
fNIRS Hyperscanning
Based on the first fNIRS hyperscanning workshop held at the University of Essex in May 2023, Dr Pascal Vrticka compiled an introduction to fNIRS hyperscanning covering the most important questions within the field.
Latest Blog Posts
Oxytocin: Looking beyond the “Bonding or Love Hormone”
Some time ago, I started my Attachment Insights series , in which I aim to provide examples of the most prevalent discussions surrounding attachment theory anddscience, together with the most accurate and up-to-date explanations. In my sixth Attachment Insights post, I looked at the popular idea of oxytocin as the “bonding or love hormone” and…
Keep reading
Building an Alternative, Together
The two most popular frameworks for insecure attachment and trauma are under scientific scrutiny, and something better is already being built to replace them, by several people from several directions. This is my honest attempt to add one strand to that effort, and to argue for keeping the conversation a shared and generous one. The…
Keep reading
Does the Body Really “Keep the Score”? Trauma as a Disorder of Prediction and How Flexibility, Flow, and Connection Restore It
Some time ago, I started my Attachment Insights series, in which I aim to provide examples of the most prevalent discussions surrounding attachment theory and science (and, increasingly, trauma), together with the most accurate and up-to-date explanations. In my thirty-eighth and most recent post, I would like to have a closer look at a thought-provoking new…
Keep reading
The Role of Interpersonal Neural and Bio-Behavioural Synchrony for Attachment-Informed Leadership
In our first post on Attachment-Informed Leadership (AIL), we have explored how leadership is fundamentally an attachment relationship anchored in the biological imperative for safety and security. We subsequently illustrated that leaders can only truly optimise their teams and organisations by looking beneath the surface of simple tasks and behaviours and instead at the physiological and neural mechanics…
Keep reading
Attachment-Informed Leadership as Collective Energy Management
In today’s fast-paced and volatile corporate environment, leaders face an increasingly difficult task. How can they foster resilience in their followers for them to not only ‘bounce back’ after a significant challenge but to actually grow stronger even in the face of adversity? This post outlines a combined social neuroscience and attachment theory perspective that sheds new light on how such…
Keep reading
The “Caring Advantage”: Parenting as Leadership Training
Using Attachment Science to Bridge the Gap Between Home and Work Modern organisational science has replaced the outdated scarcity hypothesis, i.e., the idea that family life drains professional energy, with the expansionist hypothesis. The latter perspective views work and family as powerful allies, where resources generated in the home domain can directly enrich leadership effectiveness…
Keep reading
The Bioenergetic Map of Social Connection: Redefining Attachment through Allostasis and Predictive Efficiency
Not too long ago, I wrote the first post of my attachment insights series. In this series, I aim at providing examples of the most prevalent discussions surrounding attachment theory and science as well as the most accurate and up-to-date explanations. This time, in my thirty-sixth and most recent post, I would like to propose…
Keep reading
The Role of Followers’ Attachment for Organisational Outcomes
In our third Attachment-Informed Leadership (AIL) post, Jonathan Wolf-Phillips and I are directing our attention to the other side of the leader-follower relationship: the link between followers’ attachment and organisational outcomes, particularly as part of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory. We discuss findings from a 2024 meta-analysis by Warnock and colleagues reporting that: 1️⃣ Individual differences…
Keep reading
The Five Functions of Secure Leadership
In our second attachment-informed leadership (AIL) post on Substack, Jonathan Wolf-Phillips and I focus on the five functions of secure leadership that foster followers’ sense of safety and trust. The five functions that collectively define the leader as a security provider are:1️⃣ Safe Haven2️⃣ Secure Base3️⃣ Proximity Seeking4️⃣ Emotional Ties5️⃣ Separation Distress You can find…
Keep reading
Polyvagal Theory (PVT), Attachment & Trauma: An Update And Alternative Account
A recent discussion between 39 experts and Porges about Polyvagal Theory (PVT) sparked a lot of interest, including mine. In this post on Substack, I would therefore like to summarise the content of this discussion, reflect upon its implications — also for our current understanding of attachment and trauma — and suggest an alternative account…
Keep reading
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.