09:00 – 09:45 Keynote I: Dr Pascal Vrticka
Title: Charting the Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment (SoNeAt)
Teaser: This talk will outline the latest developments in the field of SoNeAt, including the most recent conceptualization of attachment in association with social connection, energy conservation and co-regulation / social allostasis.

09:45 – 10:30 Keynote II – Dr Lars White
Title: How neat is SoNeAt for advancing our understanding on clinical risk? The utility of psychophysiological correlates to bridge attachment disorganisation / disruption and developmental psychopathology
Teaser: This talk aims to critically assess the prospects, but also the potential pitfalls of social neuroscience for advancing our understanding the reciprocal links between attachment disorganisation/ disruption and clinical risk during development.

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 – 11:45 Keynote III – Dr Shir Atzil
Title: The allostatic roots of social bonding
Teaser: Optimizing allostasis is a unifying principle that motivates and shapes social bonding across the lifespan in social species. Accordingly, the neural circuits that support social bonding overlap with the neural circuitry for allostasis. The “social brain” is often considered a specialized brain system. An alternative view suggests that social stimuli do not have unique value, but rather, have value because they help social animals regulate their metabolic state. If this is the case, then a domain-general brain system that optimizes allostasis may subserve the processing of both social and non-social affective information. I will present theoretical and empirical accounts to map the neural reference space for social processing and propose that social brain processing relies on regions of visceromotor control, abstraction and prediction.

11:45 – 12:30 Keynote IV – Dr Jodi Pawluski
Title: “Mommy Brain” Rebranded: Understanding the value of the maternal brain
Teaser: Often when we think of the brain and motherhood the narrative is one of a deficiency or loss, particularly of memory, but there is more to the story. Current neuroscience research points to remarkable remodeling and plasticity within the maternal brain that is necessary to learn how to parent and comes with an enhancement in certain cognitive capacities. This presentation will provide an overview of how we can rebrand “Mommy Brain” and direct future research to change the narrative of the brain and motherhood.

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:00 Panel Discussion
All four morning keynote speakers & audience

15:00 – 16:00 Early Career Researcher Talks
Short oral presentations of selected abstracts


Talk 1 (remote) – James D Grady – A Role for Attachment Theory in Organizational Leadership

For over 50 years, attachment theory has been well-known, well-explored, and firmly embraced in many areas. This knowledge begs the question, ” Why do so many organizations ignore the value of using attachment theory to evaluate their efforts? ” However, the essential concern in this proposal is the answer to the question, “What are those organizations missing?”
Many organizational behaviorists now recognize and write about using the attachment behavioral system to improve various workplace behaviors. The work-related implications, positive attributes, and emerging benefits of relational and transformational attachments provide the stimulus for the recent birth of organizational interest in attachment theory. The leader’s ability to build effective relationships with followers leads to discretionary input and organizational citizenship behavior. In addition, attachment behaviors can predict job performance aspects and whether organizational leaders and followers will form constructive bonds. The formation of these bonds enables the type of synergistic activity that leads to organizational success. This proposal deals with how certain aspects of attachment theory predict the effectiveness of the leaders and followers in their roles, the causes of leader difficulties and successes, the problems with leader/follower relations, and the nature of follower concerns.

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Talk 2 (remote) – Brooke H. Kohn – Early caregiving emotional environment and associations with memory performance and hippocampal volume in adolescents with prenatal drug exposure

Early adversities, including prenatal drug exposure (PDE) and a negative postnatal caregiving emotional environment (CEE), impact long-term development. The protracted developmental course of memory and its underlying neural systems offer a valuable framework for understanding the longitudinal associations of pre- and postnatal factors on children with PDE. We examined memory and hippocampal development in 69 parent-child dyads to investigate how early CEE affects children with PDE’s neural and cognitive systems. Measures of physical health, drug exposure, and CEE were collected between 0-24 months. At age 14 years, adolescents completed multiple measures of episodic memory, and at ages 14 and 18 years, adolescents underwent magnetic resonance imaging.
A negative CEE during infancy was associated with poor memory performance and smaller left hippocampal volumes at 14 years. Better memory performance at 14 years predicted larger right hippocampal volume at 18 years. At 18 years, the association between CEE and hippocampal volume was moderated by sex, such that a negative CEE was associated with larger left hippocampal volumes in males but not females. Findings suggest that PDE and CEE influence neurocognitive development. This work illuminates modifiable factors (i.e., postnatal caregiving environment) that may buffer the effects of PDE during development.

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Talk 3 (in-person) – Alice Betteridge – The Effects of Schizotypy on the Perceptions of Emotion Expressed in a Family Context

Schizotypy is a cluster of personality traits which resemble symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Expressed emotion (EE), such as criticism and praise, indicates a family member’s attitude towards an individual, and has been found to predict schizotypy. The study expands on previous research by introducing frequency of EE as a new potential variable. 191 participants listened to EE-like audio-files containing criticism and praise, and self-reported how emotionally aroused they would feel, how relevant they found the comment, and how frequently they have received a similar comment. Participants also answered questions regarding their schizotypy (O-LIFE-43), mental health (DASS-21), sleep (PSQI) and EE (LEE-38). Results showed that frequency of critical comments positively correlated with all schizotypy subscales. Depression and stress partially mediated these relationships for cognitive disorganisation, introvertive anhedonia and impulsive nonconformity. Praising EE comments were found to positively correlate with unusual experience for frequency and relevance, however not for arousal. Findings concluded that higher frequency of critical EE predicts all schizotypy subtypes, with depression and stress partly explaining these associations for most. Arousal and relevance felt towards critical EE comments predicts positive schizotypy and cognitive disorganisation. The frequency of and relevance felt towards praising EE predicts levels of positive schizotypy.

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Talk 4 (remote) – Oded Mayo – Mutual predictions during social interactions – a computational and inter-brain model and implication for early social bonding

During social interactions, we continuously learn about our interaction partner’s thoughts, feelings, and personality traits. Learning to understand our interaction partners’ is critical for creating social bonds. While most studies examining social learning have focused on one individual trying to learn about another, in real-life interactions, this type of learning is typically bi-directional, as both partners learn about each other simultaneously. I will first provide an overview on social interactive learning. Building on the predictive coding framework, I will describe a new computational and neural model that characterizes mutual predictions occurring within and between interactions. Our model proposes that during interactive active inference, each partner acts to minimize the prediction error of both the model of himself and the model of his partner. In most cases, these inferential models become closer over time allowing the development of mutual understanding. At the neural level, this type of social learning may be supported by interbrain plasticity, the change in interbrain coupling occurring over time in neural networks associated with social learning including the mentalizing network, the observation-execution system, and the hippocampus. Finally, I will discuss the possible implication of our model for early social bonding.

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Talk 5 (remote) – Atheer Massarwe – The role of situational factors and depression in extrinsic emotion regulation

Extrinsic emotion regulation (EER) is the provision of emotion regulation support to another person. An important question is what factors influence peoples’ choice of EER strategy. The present study examined the role of situational factors and depression symptoms in EER strategy use. 51 women who reported high levels of depression symptoms and 48 women who reported low levels of depression symptoms participated in the study. They were asked to read texts that described negative emotional situations. They were then asked to help the other participant by writing a supportive letter. They reported the degree to which they believe the other person feels bad, their motivation to regulate and the degree to which they used two emotion regulation strategies: distraction and reappraisal. They rated their emotions before and after providing support. Results showed that depressed and non-depressed participants reported more positive and less negative moods after providing support. Furthermore, emotional intensity and motivation predicted positive mood change. These findings are consistent with previous findings showing that EER benefits support providers. Together, these findings imply that EER may be a good way to improve mood and have implications for understanding the role of EER in depression and other psychopathologies.

16:00 – 17:00 Early Career Researcher Posters
Poster presentations of selected abstracts


Poster 1 (in-person) – Mathilde Gallistl – The Role of Attachment in Stress Resonance within Romantic Couples

Stress-related conditions are steadily on the rise in western societies. Empathic stress is a potential contributing factor to the overall burden, especially in close relationships. Empathic stress occurs when individuals observe others in stressful situations, and mount a stress response themselves in consequence. Examining the influence of attachment on empathic stress responses can uncover potential factors and mechanisms that contribute to of buffer from empathic stress. We hypothesized secure attachment to be linked to empathic stress responses within partner dyads. Using the Trier Social Stress Test, we induced psychosocial stress in one partner (“target”) while the other passively observed (“observer”). We assessed stress reactivity in both partners through salivary cortisol release, heart rate, heart rate variability, and self-report questionnaires. Attachment representation was assessed in the observer using the Adult Attachment Interview. Our findings revealed that cortisol resonance (i.e., observer’s proportional cortisol release to the stressed target) varied with attachment representation. Securely attached individuals showed higher cortisol resonance compared to those with insecure-dismissing attachment, supporting our hypothesis. These results suggest that securely attached individuals are more physiologically attuned to their partners during stressful situations, facilitating potentially understanding and support. However, their heightened susceptibility to stress resonance, may increase their risk of elevated stress levels and subsequent health issues, particularly in frequent or extreme partner stress scenarios.

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Poster 2 (in-person) – Anil Karabulut – In Sync, we Trust

Biobehavioral synchrony (BBS) describes the phenomenon of two or more individuals becoming “in sync” during or shortly after social interaction at various levels, including brain activity (i.e., interpersonal neural synchrony“ INS), hormone secretion, physiology (e.g., heart rate), and social behavior. However, the factors that influence BBS during social interactions remain poorly understood. This study aims to investigate how emotional states and attachment relate to BBS during social interaction, and how their relationship differs as compared to externally driven interpersonal coupling (i.e., synchrony emerging when two individuals are not interacting but are merely subjected to the same stimuli). The study will recruit families with young children and have them engage in two social interaction tasks: playing a game and a couple-discussion. During these tasks, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and heart rate hyperscanning data will be collected from both parents, and interaction behavior will be video-recorded. Additionally, both parents will self-report their attachment style and relationship quality, and provide continuous subjective emotional ratings when reviewing their video-recorded interactions during interpersonal coupling data acquisition. We hope that the obtained findings will help better understand the underlying mechanism of BBS and INS for social communication and interaction, attachment, and bonding, and support the development of new interventions to improve family well-being and health.

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Poster 3 (in-person) – Yam Brami & Topaz Dana – Attachment Patterns and Epigenetic Influences on Pain Tolerance in the Context of Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Study of Israeli Heterosexual Couples

The association between adverse childhood experiences and psychopathologies/emotional distress is well-documented. However, some individuals exposed to such experiences remain unaffected or show resilience. This study aimed to identify factors influencing these differences.
We examined the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and epigenetic modifications of serotonin receptors involved in pain modulation, considering attachment patterns with parents. A sample of 140 Israeli heterosexual couples (280 participants) provided saliva samples for epigenetic analysis. Data from questionnaires assessing attachment patterns (ECR-RS) and adverse experiences (ACE) were used, and robust regression analyses were conducted.
Our findings revealed that participants with high avoidance toward their mothers exhibited high methylation of the serotonin 2C receptor gene, indicating reduced pain tolerance regardless of adverse events. Conversely, those with secure attachment to their mothers showed decreased methylation, suggesting greater pain tolerance when exposed to adverse experiences. The impact of childhood adversity on methylation of the serotonin receptor HTR3A was influenced by anxiety toward the father. High attachment anxiety toward the father correlated with increased methylation, indicating diminished pain tolerance.
Attachment dynamics with parents emerged as a significant factor in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and pain tolerance, as indicated by serotonin receptor epigenetic patterns. Secure maternal attachments enhanced pain tolerance, while avoidance in mother-child relationships and anxiety in father-child relationships were associated with reduced pain tolerance.

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Poster 4 (in-person) – Peleg Manulis – Exploring the epigenetic underlying laziness

The concept of laziness is characterized by a tendency towards inactivity and a lack of engagement. Often, laziness is attributed to a lack of motivation and an unwillingness to take action. In this research, I explore whether laziness is solely linked to a deficiency in motivation or if there is an additional factor contributing to this behavior, namely high anxiety that inhibits individuals from taking action. The study was conducted on a sample of 140 heterosexual Israeli couples, totaling 280 participants. Laziness and anxiety levels were assessed using the HEXACO-60 questionnaire, while motivation was evaluated through epigenetic analysis utilizing Illumina’s Infinium® MethylationEPIC V2.0 BeadChip. The results suggest that laziness is associated with a combination of elevated anxiety levels and reduced activity in the dopamine system. This is evidenced by an overexpression of dopamine pumps, which have been linked to the degeneration of dopamine neurons. My research emphasizes that laziness is not solely contingent upon a lack of motivation, but also influenced by heightened anxiety. These findings imply that addressing anxiety management may be crucial in tackling issues related to laziness, offering potential avenues for interventions and strategies to foster greater engagement and productivity in individuals.

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Poster 5 (in-person) – Linor Jacobi – Joy Unmasked:Understanding the Epigenetic Mechanism Behind Human Happiness

In this current study, I examined the epigenetics’ role in the puzzle of human happiness. While the pursuit of happiness is a universal aspiration, its core sources remain a mystery. Happiness exhibits both trait-like and state-like qualities and even with the significant influence of environmental factors, individual differences in happiness persist, suggesting a substantial hereditary impact. However, traditional genetic predictors, such as the distribution of short versus long alleles in the serotonin transporter gene, have provided limited insights. This invites further exploration into factors, beyond simple genetic code variations, that might contribute to the stability and heritability of happiness. We suggest that epigenetics, modulating gene-environment interactions, may provide illuminating insights. The primary objective of our study is to identify specific epigenetic markers associated with happiness by investigating methylation levels, a key process in epigenetics. Using the MethylationEpic v2 kit, we analyzed DNA from saliva samples of 280 participants. The findings uncovered unveiling evidence within “social” and reward-system genes, supporting the vital role of epigenetics in happiness. This growing body of evidence suggests a paradigm shift towards a deeper comprehension of how critical epigenetic components influence human psychological evolution and play a significant role in overall mental well-being.

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Poster 6 (in-person) – Tir On Haim & Roni Daniel & Shai Bahat Linn – Shaping perfectionism: The impact of romantic attachment and dopamine

This study investigates the intricate association between romantic attachment style, dopamine secretion, and the manifestation of perfectionism. Perfectionism, encompassing adaptive and maladaptive aspects, significantly influences individuals’ well-being and psychological functioning. Understanding the fundamental factors contributing to diverse forms of perfectionism is essential for fostering psychological resilience and personal growth. The research involved 288 participants. Data were collected through the HEXACO Personality Inventory-60, which assesses perfectionism, and Relationship Structures (ECR-RS), which assesses attachment style. Epigenetic information was obtained and analyzed using the OG-600 kit for saliva sample collection and the MethylationEPIC v2 to assess methylation markers. Initial findings reveal that an insecure attachment style with one’s romantic partner (anxious or avoidant) is linked to a methylation pattern associated with reduced dopamine levels, consequently relating to maladaptive perfectionism. Lower dopamine levels were also associated with increased production of dopamine reuptake pumps, prompting the body to attempt compensatory dopamine synthesis. This dysregulation could ultimately contribute to neuronal death and suggests that for individuals with insecure attachment to their partner, perfectionism is not driven by genuine curiosity and exploration. These preliminary results shed light on the complex interplay between psychological and biological factors in the development of perfectionism.

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Poster 7 (in-person) – Gili Dayag – The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on the Ability to Experience Pleasure: An Epigenetic Perspective

Adverse childhood experiences are linked to psychological disorders and a decreased capacity to experience pleasure. However, not everyone who undergoes adverse childhood experiences inevitably faces a diminished capacity to feel pleasure. To examine the potential underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon, we examined the epigenetic mechanisms through which adverse childhood experiences affect the capacity to experience pleasure, based on individuals attachment style with their parents.We assessed the attachment styles of 280 participants using the Relationship Structures (ECR-RS) questionnaire, and adverse childhood experiences using the ACE questionnaire. Epigenetic information of the Mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) was coded using MethylationEPIC v2 kit. Results indicated that among participants with anxious attachment toward their mother, the level of methylation was high regardless of their childhood experiences, reflecting reduced capacity to experience pleasure. Conversely, among those secure attachment to their mothers, adverse childhood experiences were associated with lower methylation levels and increased ability to experience pleasure. In addition, when individuals maintain an average level of avoidance in their relationship with the father, adverse childhood experiences were linked to decreased methylation and enhanced ability to experience pleasure. These findings shed light on the intricate interplay between psychological and biological factors in the capacity to experience pleasure.

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Poster 8 (in-person) – Dana Dahan – The Influence of Adult Attachment Experiences on Chronic Attachment Patterns: Exploring Epigenetic Modifications

The relationship between parents and their child in the first two years of life shapes the child’s personality-like social dispositions known as attachment patterns. Some studies show that attachment patterns crystallized in infancy and remain relatively stable across a person’s life. However, social interactions in adulthood might also influence individuals’ attachment patterns. In the current study, I examined whether experiences related to attachment in adulthood, such as a benevolent romantic relationship, can influence participants’ chronic attachment patterns to the point of changing them. In addition, I examined whether this change gets under participants’ skin into the epigenetic layer, which is the intermediate layer between the genetic code and the environment. Specifically, I explored whether the epigenetic code captures the current attachment pattern or the trajectory of one’s attachment pattern over time – i.e., whether a trajectory of an attachment pattern that started as insecure and became secure has a unique epigenetic signature as compared to a trajectory of lifetime security. The research question was examined based on data from 280 participants who take part in the “Alpha Project” research. The results revealed unique epigenetic modifications among individuals whose attachment started as insecure and changed to secure as compared with those with lifetime security.

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Poster 15 (in-person) – Tal Marom – Riding the Anxiety Roller Coaster: Unveiling the connection between anxiety levels and openness to new experiences through epigenetic perspectives

In this study, we explored the relationship between anxiety and openness to new experiences, focusing on dopamine’s role in fostering creativity. We examined the correlation between anxiety and embracing new experiences using data from 140 heterosexual Israeli couples (280 participants).
To collect genetic and epigenetic data, the OG-600 Genotek kit used to collect participants’ saliva samples, the Brief Symptom Inventory 18 questionnaire used to evaluate participants’ anxiety levels and MethylationEPIC V2 kit facilitated the analysis of epigenetic data.
Our findings revealed a U-shaped relationship between anxiety and openness to experience, where both minimal and high levels of anxiety were associated with reduced openness. We also identified a curvilinear relationship between anxiety and methylation on the dopamine receptor 3 (DRD3) gene, regulating physical and emotional pain responses. Low to moderate anxiety levels were linked to increased pain tolerance, while high anxiety levels were associated with decreased pain endurance.
These findings suggest that anxiety, to a certain point, promotes exploration and openness to experiences due to increased pain endurance linked to lower methylation levels. They enhance our understanding of the interplay between anxiety, personality traits, and genetic/epigenetic factors, shedding light on the complex mechanisms behind individual variations in openness to new experiences.

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Remote Poster 1 – Murgueitio Nicolas – Impact of caregiving instability on young children’s neural processes using a novel emotion regulation fMRI paradigm

Caregiving instability, the temporary or permanent switching of caregivers, has been associated with deficits across domains, including deficits in emotion regulation (ER). This is in part because young children possess limited cognitive abilities and thus rely on their caregivers to scaffold ER. Thus, cognitive reappraisal-associated neural processes are likely to be associated with caregiving instability. The present study explores how caregiving instability impacts neural activation using a novel fMRI paradigm to assess ER in early childhood. We recruited 4-8 years old (M=6.23, SD=0.84; N=47; 26 female) children to participate in a neuroimaging visit. We coded the number of changes in primary and secondary caregiver children have had (0= no changes in caregivers, 1=at least one change in caregiver) reported by a current primary caregiver. Children with caregiving instability showed increased activation of the precuneus, the temporoparietal junction, and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex when observing negative pictures (in contrast to neutral pictures). Additionally, when scaffolded for reappraisal by their current primary caregiver, children with caregiving instability showed increased activation in the interparietal sulcus when viewing a negative picture. These results demonstrate that caregiving instability is associated with neural correlates of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation in early childhood.

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Remote Poster 2 – Lenny Hassin – The role of oxytocin-related genes DNA methylation (DNAm) in gratitude and the moderating role of partner’s benevolence

Gratitude is a social emotion of appreciation one directs towards another for being benevolent. Although a great deal of research has been done concerning the contribution of gratitude to well-being, it remains unclear exactly which biological factors influence the tendency to be grateful; and the extent to which social factors can moderate this relationship. The current study examined whether an epigenetic pattern of the Oxytocin system affects the tendency to be grateful, and whether this relationship is moderated by the one’s attachment figure level of benevolence.
To this purpose, 140 heterosexual couples were sampled. A saliva sample was collected from each participant using the OG- 600 from Genotek Oragene, to map their Oxytocin system’s methylation pattern. Gratitude was assessed by The Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form. Each couple was filmed during a conflict interaction, which was then analysed using The Specific Affect Coding System, to assess partner’s level of benevolence. It was assumed to find an association between Methylation pattern of the Oxytocin system and gratitude, so that a pattern indicating higher system activation would relate to a greater tendency to express gratitude. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that benevolence would moderate this relationship.

09:00 – 09:45 Keynote V – Prof Tsachi Ein-Dor
Title: Unlocking the Biological Secrets of Attachment: A Unified Model from an Epigenetic Perspective
Teaser: In my talk, we will delve into the evolutionary underpinnings and neurobiology of attachment behavior and the consolidation of attachment patterns, highlighting their role as fundamental survival mechanisms. We’ll venture into a unified theory on the biology of attachment, examining its protective function in the face of threats and its contribution to our subjective sense of safety. Lastly, we’ll navigate the ground-breaking landscape of recent epigenetic findings, unearthing how variations in oxytocin, stress, and reward systems expression and caregiving contexts can profoundly impact behavioral outcomes and resilience to stress.

09:45 – 10:30 Keynote VI – Dr Patricia Pelufo Silveira
Title: Investigating the interplay between gene networks and the quality of the early environment on child health and development using expression-based polygenic scores
Teaser: The expression-based polygenic score is a novel technique created in our lab to investigate individual differences in biological processes underlying tissue-specific gene networks. It allows a better understanding of the role of specific molecular mechanisms on the responsivity to variations in the early environment (e.g. exposure to stress or trauma, differences in attachment security, poor family function). This functional genomics translational tool can help in the identification of individual differences in behavior that map onto adult psychopathology, especially in response to early adversity.

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 – 11:45 Keynote VII – Dr Katie Daughters
Title: The role of oxytocin in attachment and social behaviour: Mums, myths and legends
Teaser: Oxytocin has been found to play an important role in attachment, trust and pro-social behaviours… Right? Over the past decade science has unpicked some of the infamous oxytocin studies, finding that context is often critical to their success.

11:45 – 12:30 Keynote VIII – Dr Rebecca Böhme
Title: The role of social touch in development, relationships, and well-being
Teaser: Social touch is considered to be especially interwoven with the self in a social context: the first experiences of bodily self-boundaries and of the presence of others arise in early life from caressing touch by the caregivers. Throughout our lifetime, social touch plays a foundational role for both our bodily self and our interaction with others. In this lecture I will address the neurobiological basis of touch processing, explain the developmental and psychological role of social touch, and discuss the consequences of altered touch processing and lack of touch.

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch Break

14:00 – 15:00 Panel Discussion
All four morning keynote speakers & audience

15:00 – 16:00 Early Career Researcher Talks
Short oral presentations of selected abstracts


Talk 6 (remote) – Lior Abramson – The effect of parental presence on amygdala and mPFC activation during fear conditioning: An exploratory study

Learning safe versus dangerous cues is crucial for survival. During development, parents influence fear learning by buffering their children’s stress response and increasing exploration of aversive stimuli. Rodent findings suggest these behavioral effects are mediated through parental presence modulation of the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Here, we investigated whether similar parental effects on amygdala and mPFC occur in humans. Participants (final N=39, 6-17 years, mean=12.03, SD=2.98, 59%F/41%M) performed a classical fear conditioning task, which included two fractals, a CS+ followed by an aversive noise (US;75% reinforcement rate) and a CS-. They performed the task once in physical contact with their parent and once alone (order counterbalanced). BOLD activations to the US (vs. implicit baseline) and to the CS+ (vs. CS-) were examined with region of interest analyses. During US presentation, parental presence reduced centromedial amygdala activation. In response to learned stimuli, parental presence reduced mPFC activation to the CS+ (relative to the CS-), although this result did not survive multiple comparisons correction. These findings indicate that parents modulate amygdala and mPFC activity during exposure to unconditioned and conditioned fear stimuli, potentially providing insight into the neural mechanisms by which parents act as a social buffer during fear learning.

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Talk 7 (remote) – Tatiana A. Kustova – Neural Dyadic Synchrony in Children and Mothers with a History of Institutionalization: Preliminary Findings

The study aimed at investigating neural markers of synchrony in dyads of children and their mothers who were raised in orphanages in Russia. Thirty four children (34.8±19.1 mos, 18 girls) and their mothers raised in institutional care (IC group, 24.6±4.1 yrs) and 41 children (33.1±17.9 mos, 24 girls) and their mothers raised in biological families (BFC group, 30.0±5.2 yrs) participated in the study. EEG was recorded using 24-channel Smarting (mBrainTrain LCC) during dyadic interaction using a hyperscanning technique. Data analysis is ongoing, magnitude-squared Coherence will be calculated for independent and joint play (JP) tasks to investigate the group differences in neural synchrony levels across theta and alpha frequency bands. Preliminary results were obtained on a sample of 20 dyads (10 in IC and 10 in BFC group). Greater synchrony levels in the IC group were observed compared to the BFC group during the JP task, suggesting potential compensatory mechanisms of sensitivity increase in mothers, who have a history of trauma (Emery et al., 2008). The analysis will be replicated on a larger sample, which will be presented and discussed at the conference. The research was supported by grant No 19-78-10102 from the Russian Science Foundation (P.I.: Marina A. Zhukova) and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Agreement 075-10-2021-093, Project COG-RND-2104).

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Talk 8 (in-person) – Gal Levin – Oxytocin as a potential protective factor against peripartum depression

Peripartum depression (PPD) is a severe psychiatric disorder that is understudied (both clinically and experimentally) and underdiagnosed, with estimated incidences that range from 13% to 19%. This condition negatively impacts both the mother (or father) and the child through various means. To date, research has suggested many players in PPD and provided multiple and distinct biological mechanisms that underlie PPD. We recently introduced a unified model for PPD (UmPPD), which is based on state-of-the-art research and theoretical reasoning, and provides a new theoretical framework for the understanding of PPD. The model proposes inflammation, stress, and hormone imbalance create the conditions for PPD. However, one factor may serve as protective in the face of the detrimental effects of the aforementioned factors“ the oxytocin (OT) system. In the following talk, I will present the preliminary findings of 280 participants that show how supportive and healthy relationships that are associated with OT secretion act as a buffer and reduce the severity of depressive symptoms.

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Talk 9 (remote) – Ellen Roche – Toward inclusive, real-world social neuroscience – methods to recruit, learn from, and analyze data with diverse families in community childcare settings

Dual-brain hyperscanning using mobile fNIRS is particularly well-suited for inclusive and ecologically-valid neuroscience research. In this presentation, we’ll share methods and lessons learned during an ongoing study of parent-child neural synchrony, which is being conducted at childcare centers in racially and socioeconomically diverse communities. Topics will include:
Theoretical approach – building on existing studies (e.g., Nguyen et al., 2021; Alonso & McDorman, 2023) to conceptualize neural synchrony as an adaptive process
Study design – partnering with childcare centers to inform recruitment materials and study protocols
Session design – optimizing mobile fNIRS in childcare centers
Inclusive fNIRS – how we worked to mitigate bias created by fNIRS technology, which works best for White participants and may limit Black participants’ ability to participate in research
Novel statistical techniques – utilizing a within-dyad approach to identify behaviors (linguistic, affective, etc) that precede transitions in and out of neural synchrony in families.
Generally, existing research on parent-child synchrony suggests that both behavioral (Davis et al., 2017; Feldman 2007; Tamis-LaMonda et al., 2014) and neural (e.g., Reindl et al., 2018) synchrony contribute to positive child outcomes, but we believe the picture is more complex, and novel methods will guide new insights on the adaptive nature of synchrony.

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Talk 10 (remote) – Ines Brenner – Can bonding be learned? Effects of real-time fMRI neurofeedback-training for mothers with postpartum bonding difficulties on mother-infant relationship

Most parents feel an emotional bond with their newborn baby. Neurobiologically, this is accompanied by a heightened activation of the neural reward system when infant stimuli are presented. However, around 10% of all mothers report bonding difficulties, with potential longterm consequences for the mother-child relationship and child development. Aim of the study was to test a fMRI-neurofeedback training (NFB) for women with postpartum bonding difficulties. N=31 mothers with postpartum bonding difficulties and n=30 healthy controls and their babies were examined over the first six months postpartum using clinical interviews, questionnaires, interaction quality and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In addition, mothers with bonding difficulties received a fMRI-neurofeedback intervention (2 groups: ventral striatum (VS) or anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; active controls) using real-time fMRI. Pre-intervention (T1) both NFB groups did not differ in their bonding and interaction quality, but post-intervention (T2) the VS- group reported a significantly greater increase in bonding than the ACC group. Both intervention groups showed significant improvements in the quality of mother-infant interaction (maternal sensitivity as well as dyadic reciprocity and negative states). Despite the small sample, the results indicate an effect of NFB on mother-infant bonding and interaction quality. Further research with larger samples and other parental mental disorders is needed.

16:00 – 17:00 Early Career Researcher Posters
Poster presentations of selected abstracts


Poster 9 (in-person) – Evania Lina Fasya – Smile Mimicry Smoothens Human-Virtual Human Interactions

During social interactions, people often unintentionally mimic each other’s behaviors, which occurs at the motor and the autonomic level. Mimicry has often been linked with increases in liking and trust and tends to smoothen the bond between interaction partners. However, people with social anxiety are less expressive and they may also have altered mimicry behavior. The current study aims to explore the relationship between mimicry, person-perception, and social anxiety levels by having participants interact with virtual humans. Participants observed ten virtual humans telling a neutral story on a computer monitor. At predetermined time points, the virtual humans showed four types of expressions: smiles, head movements, pupil dilation, and blushing. After each story, we measured to what extent participants evaluated the virtual human positively, had the desire to interact more in the future, and trusted the virtual human. In addition, we assessed participants’ social anxiety levels. The results show that participants, regardless of anxiety levels, mimicked the virtual humans’ smiles and that smile mimicry predicted the evaluation, the desire for future interaction, and trust toward the virtual humans. These results build on previous research showing that the mimicry of smiles acts as a social glue and also benefits virtual social interactions.

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Poster 10 (in-person) – Caryn Cook – Caregiver anxiety and infant vagal tone in the Still Face Paradigm

The relationship between interoception and mental health in adulthood is well-established, but little is known of the developmental trajectories of interoceptive processing or its relationship with mental health. Both caregiver’s and infant’s factors within early dyadic interactions are believed to play a significant role in the development of interoceptive processing (Atzil et al., 2018; Filippetti 2021; Fotopoulou & Tsakiris, 2018), and of vagal tone, a physiological marker of interoceptive processing and emotion regulation (Pinna & Edwards, 2020; Porges, 1992; Porges, 1995). In this study, we are examining whether caregivers’ anxiety levels (GAD-7) and their interoceptive accuracy and attention (Murphy et al., 2020; 2021) predict their infants’ vagal tone during a modified Still Face Paradigm (mSFP), in which the caregiver chooses the duration of the SF period according to their own comfort. We hypothesize that more anxious caregivers will experience greater discomfort during the SF period, resulting in a shorter duration of the SF and that this will be associated with reduced heart rate variability in the infant. We hope this study will help shed light on the precise mechanisms behind infant interoceptive processing development and the relationship between caregiver and child mental health outcomes.

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Poster 11 (in-person) – Ron Shaked – Beyond the Odds: Examining Epigenetic Patterns in Resilience to Adverse Childhood Experiences

Adverse childhood experiences such as sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and parental divorce have consistently been found to cause trauma and psychopathology (Schilling et al., 2007). However, there are individual differences in the effects of adverse childhood experiences; while some people develop psychopathology, others withstand adversity in childhood without developing adverse physical or mental health outcomes. The American Psychological Association (2013) defines resilience as a successful adaptation process in response to threatening, stressful, or traumatic adverse experiences, or the ability to bounce back from difficult life conditions. Yet, the biological understanding of resilience remains unanswered, and little attention has been paid to the genetic aspect of resilience. In the current study, an analysis of 280 participants indicated differences in the epigenetic patterns between participants who showed resilience in the face of adverse childhood experiences (n=33) and those who developed psychopathology in response to these events (n=148) or did not withstand such adversities (n=99). The discussion revolves around the meaning of these differences.

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Poster 12 (in-person) – Uri Bertocchi – Correlating DNA Methylation with Gene Expression to Improve Functional Interpretation of Psychiatric Epigenome-wide Association Studies

Background: Distal regulatory elements (DREs) are usually assigned to their closest target genes. This simple method has 50% target gene assignment errors. This study revisits EWAS to better understand epigenetic alterations’ functional effects and molecular mechanisms. Methods: First, we obtained whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and RNA-seq datasets of various human tissues from Roadmap Epigenomics. Second, we expanded known enhancer regions to 500kb on either side and identified the genes within this range. Then, we performed Pearson correlation with FDR correction between each enhancer-methylation site to every genes’ expression rate within that 1mb range. Results: We observed that most DREs (q < .05) do not regulate, via DNA methylation, the nearest gene and some DRE regulate more than one gene. We identified tissue-specific methylation patterns and observed differential methylation at DRE regions correlating with these genes’ expression. We preformed GO enrichment analysis for the unmethylated and methylated DREs confirmed that the re-evaluated genes are essential for the function of the relevant tissue. We then re-evaluated EWAS results of Post-Partum Depression. Our data suggest that the Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule 2 (NCAM2) is a better fit than the nearest gene originally annotated (LncRNA gene).

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Poster 13 (in-person) – Shahar Goren – Epigenetic Signatures of Trauma: Understanding the Impact of Attachment Styles in Childhood Sexual Abuse Victims

Recent recognition of the impact of childhood sexual abuse on individuals’ ability to experience closeness has underscored the need for understanding the underlying mechanisms. This study investigates the influence of attachment style on the epigenetics of the reward system in individuals who have experienced sexual abuse. A sample of 42 participants who had experienced sexual abuse in their childhood and 238 participants who had not experienced sexual abuse were selected. Attachment patterns were assessed using the Relation Structures (ECR-RS) questionnaire. Methylation levels were quantified using the MethylationEPIC v2 kit. Robust models revealed that individuals who experienced sexual abuse and had displayed an avoidant attachment style with their mother exhibited lower dopamine expression. Conversely, those who experienced sexual abuse and had a secure attachment style with their mother showed higher dopamine expression, indicating more effective trauma processing. These findings provide valuable insights into the intricate relationship between attachment styles, epigenetic mechanisms, and the reward system in the context of sexual abuse.

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Poster 14 (in-person) – Hodaya Zadok & Adi Shapira – Exploring the Secrets of Anxious Personality: epigenetic and Methylation of serotonin receptors

Background: Anxiety and anxious personality have been recognized as transdiagnostic factors in the development of various psychological disorders. Research suggests that these disorders share a sensitivity to emotional pain, possibly influenced by serotonin, a neuropeptide involved in pain regulation. To investigate the mechanisms underlying anxious personality, we studied epigenetic modifications in serotonin receptors by examining methylation patterns in individuals with varying anxious personality levels .Method: A sample of 140 Israeli couples prior to their first pregnancy (N=280). Saliva samples were collected and analyzed using a Methylation EPIC V2 kit, alongside questionnaires to assess self-reported information. The HEXACO-60 questionnaire was used to quantify participants’ anxious personality degree. Results and conclusion: Our findings show an association between anxious personality and methylation levels on the HTR2C serotonin receptor gene. Higher levels of anxious traits correlated with lower methylation on the HTR2C gene. As these receptors amplify pain sensitivity, reduced methylation on the HTR2C gene may contribute to heightened pain sensitivity among individuals with anxious personalities. These results provide insights into the potential impact of epigenetic modifications on pain perception in individuals with anxious traits, and shed light on the link between anxious personality and the development of psychopathologies.

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Poster 16 (in-person) – Gal Anaby – The Impact of Close Relationships on Pain Thresholds: Examining the Role of Parental and Romantic Partners’ Attachment

Physical and psychological pain follow similar biological and neural pathways and share common characteristics in the subjective experiences of individuals. Studies have shown that the presence of a supportive individual and expressions of affection from them alleviate the sensation of physical and psychological pain. However, it remains unclear whether long-term relationships with a significant person can modify pain thresholds, such that relationships with supportive individuals lead to higher pain thresholds, resulting in resilience to physical and psychological pain, while relationships with unsupportive individuals lead to lower pain thresholds and increased vulnerability to pain sensations. In this study, we investigated whether the nature of the relationship with parents predicts an individual’s chronic pain threshold as reflected in the epigenetic regulation of the pain system, specifically in the pain gene activation code. Additionally, we examined whether the quality of the romantic partner relationship can remedy the impact of insecure attachment toward parents on pain-related epigenetics. The research question was examined based on data from 280 participants who take part in the “Alpha Project” research. The results revealed associations between parental attachment and the individual’s pain-related epigenetics, as well as a moderating effect of partner attachment on this relationship.

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Poster 17 (in-person) – Omri Kesten & Ariel Sikron & Tomer Malik – Unraveling the Epigenetic Roots of Fear: Exploring the Intricacies of Death Anxiety

As humans, we grapple with the conflict between our desire to live and the inevitable knowledge of death. Constant awareness of our mortality can paralyze our ability to function. According to the Terror Management Theory, our connection to an eternal cultural worldview and feelings of social value can suppress thoughts of death. This study aimed to investigate the potential biological basis of the fear of death. We recruited 280 participants and assessed their fear of death through self-reporting. Using Genotek’s OG-600 saliva sampling kit and MethylationEPIC v.2, we analyzed methylation sites. We particularly focused on genes from the sociability (e.g., oxytocin) and stress (i.e., HPA-axis) systems, along with the Kynurenine Pathway. We found that participants with a greater fear of death had a methylation profile associated with reduced oxytocin activity, potentially indicating diminished protection against death anxiety. Moreover, we discovered factors that can explain the rise of existential thoughts. Among individuals with a fear of death, a key component (KCC2) of the GABAa receptors was less epigenetically expressed, reflecting impaired stress regulation and an intensified stress response. Furthermore, there was reduced activity of the POMC gene, the precursor of beta-endorphins, which could be associated with delayed pain relief.

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Poster 18 (in-person) – Guy Oren – Whispers of the Past: Revealing the Silent Traces of Holocaust Survivors in the Bodies and Minds of Future Generations

Despite the passage of several decades since the Holocaust, the enduring trauma experienced by survivors continues to cast a long shadow extending far beyond their own lives. The offspring of these survivors often find themselves caught in their parents’ web of pain, thereby becoming part of an unceasing cycle of inherited trauma reverberating across generations. In this study, we delved into the inherited trauma and its repercussions on the third and fourth generations of Holocaust survivors. Our investigation specifically scrutinized whether descendants of Holocaust survivors exhibit dysregulation in their social system, reflected in insecure attachment and oxytocin system epigenetics, and in the stress system, evidenced by anxiety, depressive symptoms, and HPA-axis epigenetics. Our study included 142 non-Holocaust descendants and 136 Holocaust descendants who completed self-report measures on attachment patterns (using the Relationship Structures questionnaire) and psychopathology (via the Brief Symptoms Inventory – 18), in addition to providing methylation data using the MethylationEPIC v2 kit. The findings suggest that Holocaust survivors’ offspring display methylation patterns associated with dysregulation of the oxytocin and stress systems, as well as in the related measures of attachment patterns and psychopathology. The study highlights that trauma can leave lasting marks not only on direct victims but also on subsequent generations.

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Remote Poster 3 – Natalie Suchy – Harsh intrusive parenting moderates the association between brain structure and surgency during infancy

Child temperament and caregivers’ parenting behavior are both known to play important roles in socioemotional development. However, it remains unclear to what extent early neurodevelopmental features affect temperament and whether experiences with caregivers moderate this relationship. In the present study, neonates (N = 104) underwent a 3T magnetic resonance imaging scan at two weeks of age. Bilateral amygdala, hippocampus, putamen, nucleus accumbens, and caudate nucleus volumes were extracted jointly from T1- and T2-weighted images. At 6 months, mothers completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire – Very Short Form, a measure of temperament, and participated in a free play activity with their child; videos were later coded for maternal warm sensitivity and harsh intrusiveness. Regression analyses revealed that harsh intrusive parenting moderated the effect of accumbens volume on infant surgency. In models including putamen, accumbens, and caudate volumes, all three indicated a significant effect of harsh intrusive parenting on surgency. Additionally, larger putamen and accumbens volumes were each significantly associated with higher levels of surgency. These results suggest that the effects of neonatal accumbens volume on infant surgency are amplified in the context of harsh intrusive parenting.