Dr Vrticka’s most recent blog posts
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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… Read more
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Expert Insights – Attachment, Caregiving and the Parental Brain
Infant attachment and the parental bond are closely linked. This article first examines the emergence of individual differences in these two dimensions and their significance. It then explores their neurobiological bases, focusing particularly on the parental brain. Finally, it discusses strategies that caregivers can use to promote the development of secure attachment in children. This… Read more
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Hallucinated citations and phantom references
How generative AI undermines scientific accuracy and integrity ‘Hallucinated citations’ and ‘phantom references’ are citations and references invented by Large Language Models (LLMs) that look real but don’t exist. They’re a creative combination of author names, paper titles, journal names and publication years that mimic genuine publications but in reality are completely fictional. Why are… Read more
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Dads: The Forgotten Attachment Figures?
How 70 Years of Attachment Science Reshaped Fathers’ Role Not too long ago, I wrote the first entry of my attachment myth-busting series. In this series, I aim at providing concise examples of the most prevalent myths surrounding attachment theory and science as well as more accurate and up-to-date explanations. I am now revisiting some… Read more
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Why attachment is foundational for effective leadership
Introducing our new attachment-informed leadership (AIL) framework Leadership comes in many different shapes and forms. As eloquently pointed out by Stogdill, there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. According to Northouse, it nonetheless appears that four components are central to leadership: (a) Leadership… Read more
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Is your brain securely attached? Part I: What’s the brain got to do with it?
It’s now been about twenty years since I embarked on my scientific journey to study the Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment (SoNeAt). This series with the overarching title “Is your brain securely attached?” is a reflection of my journey: how everything started, the challenges and achievements it entailed, the insights it revealed, whom I met along… Read more
Dr Pascal Vrticka (PhD, FHEA) 