
Dr Pascal Vrticka (PhD)
Lecturer / Assistant Professor
Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex (Colchester, UK)

Short Introduction
Dr Pascal Vrticka is a social neuroscientist with strong ties to developmental & social psychology. His research focuses on the psychological, behavioural, biological, and brain basis of human social interaction, attachment and caregiving.
Besides measuring neurobiological responses to different kinds of social versus non-social information in single participants using (functional) magnetic resonance imaging ([f]MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), Dr Vrticka most recently started to assess bio-behavioural synchrony in interacting pairs using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning. The main question thereby is how romantic partners and parents with their children get “in sync” when they solve problems together or talk to each other.
Dr Vrticka furthermore relates the obtained individual and dyadic behavioural, biological, and brain measures to interindividual differences in relationship quality – particularly attachment and caregiving. In doing so, he refers to attachment theory that provides a suitable theoretical framework on how we initiate and maintain interpersonal relationships across the life span. With his research, Dr Vrticka is promoting a new area of investigation: the social neuroscience of human attachment.
Contact & Further Information
Additional Academic Roles

PI of the Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment Lab (SoNeAt Lab) at the Centre for Brain Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Essex

Associate Member of the Executive Board, Society for Emotion and Attachment Studies (SEAS)
Website Menu
Please find below a summary of available information on Dr Pascal Vrticka’s website with direct links to the corresponding sections.
Latest News and Announcements from the SoNeAt Lab and beyond
The Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment Lab (SoNeAt Lab): How to become involved (prospective students), current students & research topics, and student alumni & research topics
Description of the Special Interest Research Group (SIRG) on the Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment (SoNeAt)
Dr Pascal Vrticka’s current and past teaching
Description of SoNeAt Lab’s main field of research
Summary of other research topics that are also part of the SoNeAt Lab
Experimental methods used within the SoNeAt Lab
International collaboration partners of the SoNeAt Lab
List of Dr Pascal Vrticka’s publications
List of Dr Pascal Vrticka’s Talks and other kinds of Presentations
List of grants and awards Dr Pascal Vrticka has received
Dr Pascal Vrticka’s short biography & curriculum vitae