I'm looking for...

Courses Research People Something else

Prefer to see our subject areas?

Browse courses by subject

Looking for funded postgraduate opportunities?

View doctoral training partnerships Browse postgraduate research opportunities

We are different and we are the same. #WeAreEssex

Courses

Prefer to see our subject areas?

Browse courses by subject

Research

Looking for funded postgraduate opportunities?

View doctoral training partnerships Browse postgraduate research opportunities

People

We are different and we are the same. #WeAreEssex

Something else

Department of Psychology

The Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment (SoNeAt) Lab

Two Dads, one sitting in a small tent with a baby and the other kneeling in front, playing a game. The baby has a big smile and is holding their arms out to one of the Dads.

About Our SoNeAt Lab

Strong emotional bonds are essential for us to live a happy and healthy life. Our Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment (SoNeAt) Lab explores the biological roots of these special bonds. To understand how we attach to and care for one another, we combine measures from developmental and social psychology with advanced social neuroscience techniques.

In our research, we look at how people get 'in sync' when they solve problems, play games, or simply talk. This is how our actions, heart rates, hormones, and brain waves align during a shared moment. The SoNeAt Lab is a world leader in studying such bio-behavioural synchrony. We explore how these biological rhythms help us build stronger, higher-quality relationships.

Our SoNeAt Lab is particularly well known for using fNIRS hyperscanning. With this technique, we can measure brain activity in up to four participants at once by shining infrared light into their brains’ outer layers. What is more, we can literally see whether our participants are ‘on the same wavelength’ during a social interaction. We are currently using fNIRS hyperscanning to study families – including mothers, fathers and their children – as well as groups of young adults.

Our most recent work applies the social neuroscience of attachment to a novel attachment-informed leadership (AIL) framework. We view leadership as a unique bond that functions much like an attachment relationship. In this model, a leader acts as an attachment figure, providing a sense of security for their followers. Consequently, the SoNeAt Lab is nowadays also investigating the biological roots of leadership to understand how professional bonds mirror attachment bonds.

The SoNeAt Lab has an extended network of local, national and international partners. For example, we are tightly linked to the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) to study bio-behavioural synchrony in families with neurodivergent children. We are furthermore closely collaborating with the UK charity Babygro based in Cornwall. By providing evidence-based guidance, we help Babygro supporting families and training organisations working with them. And as part of a team of five universities across four European countries, we recently secured almost €1.5 million to study children’s social wellbeing during their transition to Reception and from there to Year 1.

Our studies

TRIO Studies

Since 2024, we are conducting a new series of interdisciplinary and multi-method studies looking at bio-behavioural synchrony in families. This includes mother-child and father-child pairs and mother-child-father triads.

We acknowledge and celebrate that families come in all shapes and sizes. For our TRIO Studies, we are currently looking for participant families that include a cisgender mother and father and their biological child.

While the first TRIO Study is carried out in neurotypical participants, different parts of TRIO also include families with neurodivergent children and children with experiences of early adversity, care and/or adoption together with their foster parents and/or carers. You can read more information about this project and to learn how to participate or email us at psy-triostudy@essex.ac.uk.

SWITCH Study

Since April 2025, our SoNeAt Lab is part of an international research project ‘Targeting Social Wellbeing to Improve Transitions to School’, or in short SWITCH.

As part of SWITCH, we are investigating children’s social wellbeing during their transition to Reception and from there to Year 1. Starting school is one of the biggest transitions in a child’s life, with a profound impact on their wellbeing, mental health, and engagement with learning. How children settle into Reception shapes their confidence, friendships, and resilience for years to come.

To better understand these transitions, we are assessing parent-child and child-peer bio-behavioural synchrony and a range of other behavioural measures. Findings from SWITCH will provide critical insights to inform evidence-based guidance for schools and policy makers across Europe. You can read more information about this project and to learn how to participate or email us at switch@essex.ac.uk.

LEAD Studies

Since October 2025, we are building a new series of investigations to develop a novel attachment-informed leadership (AIL) framework. This includes the formulation of the underlying theory as well as online and laboratory-based studies in the context of “Leadership, Empathy and Attachment Dynamics” (LEAD).

The long-term goal is to develop and deploy fNIRS hyperscanning, initially in small but eventually in large groups of up to 30 people within corporate environments. This approach will allow us to investigate professional leader-follower relationships from a combined Relational Neuroscience and attachment theory perspective.

A woman and child wearing caps with sensors on.

We use a range of methods to uncover the emotional bonds between families.

Four PhD students standing in a school sports hall, with a table and a large pink and purple banner advertising the SoNeAt Lab.

We regularly showcase our work at events in Colchester and find new research participants.

Our team

Dr Pascal Vrticka

Senior Lecturer

Department of Psychology, University of Essex

Ines Branco Rodrigues

Senior Research Officer

Department of Psychology, University of Essex

Ricky Chmitorz

Postgraduate Research Student

Department of Psychology, University of Essex

Laura Mtewele

Postgraduate Research Student

Department of Psychology, University of Essex

Lucas Canga

Postgraduate Research Student

Department of Psychology, University of Essex

Nadia Curtis

Postgraduate Research Student

Department of Psychology, University of Essex

Melike Kiymaz

Postgraduate Research Student

Department of Psychology, University of Essex

What we do

Selected collaborators

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT): PhD studentship co-funding and sponsor of two fNIRS devices for hyperscanning.
Babygro: Research translation, workshops for parents, continuous professional development for individual and organisations working with families.
Centre for Attachment-Informed Leadership Studies (CALS): A dedicated centre that aims to make a significant contribution to the evidence-base for how an attachment-informed approach to leadership can measurably contribute to increases in felt security, job performance, and overall health and well-being – for both leaders and those they lead.
IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy (IMT): External PhD co-supervision (Anil Karabulut) as part of our TRIO Studies.
Laboratorio de Neurociencias, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, Montevideo (UDELAR): External PhD co-supervision (Antonella Arrieta) as part of our TRIO Studies.
Research Unit for Developmental Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria (UniWien): External PhD co-supervision (Astrid Karner) as well as collaboration within the SWITCH Project
Clinical Psychology and Paediatric Psychotherapy, University of Bremen, Germany (UniBremen): External PhD co-supervision (Angelika Bracher, Dorukhan Acil, Charlotte Schulz) and collaboration within the SWITCH Project.
Humboldt Science Center for Child Development at the University of Leipzig, Germany (HumanKind): Collaboration within the SWITCH Project.
Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Linköping University, Sweden (CSAN): Collaboration within the SWITCH Project.
Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel (RUNI): Collaboration as part of the longitudinal “Project Alpha”.

Some of our activities

2025 SoNeAt Lab fNIRS Hyperscanning Workshop (19-20 May 2025). A two-day theory and practice workshop in the field of Relational Neuroscience with a special focus on hands-on training in fNIRS hyperscanning data collection, pre-processing and analysis procedures. We are currently planning a 2026 edition to be held in September.
Conference series on the Social Neuroscience of Human Relationships, Attachment and Caregiving (SNRAC). The latest of five editions was held at the University of Bremen, Germany, on 20-21 August 2025. In 2026, there will be a similar one-day pre-conference on 06 July directly preceding the International Attachment Conference (IAC) in Leuven on 07-09 July 2026.
We are regularly present at local events in and around Colchester to showcase our research and look out for new research participants. If you see our SoNeAt Lab banner, make sure to come and say ‘hi’!

Our lab in the news

Radio interview about our TRIO Studies. Colne Radio. 29 September 2025. Listen on GoogleDrive.
Essex press release about our SWITCH Study. 27 March 2025.
Essex press release about one of our fNIRS hyperscanning studies. 09 April 2024.

Online resources

Attachment Insights: A website providing examples of the most prevalent myths surrounding attachment theory and science as well as more accurate and up-to-date explanations.
Attachment Science with Dr Pascal Vrticka: A collection of Substack posts on the topic of attachment from a social neuroscience perspective.
An introduction to fNIRS Hyperscanning: A website with lots of additional resources and insights into fNIRS hyperscanning.
Babygro: A UK registered charity working with families and professionals who support them. Download their free Babygro Book for parents or book a continued professional development course based on our SoNeAt Lab’s attachment research.
Centre for Attachment-Informed Leadership Studies (CALS): A website outlining our novel attachment-informed leadership (AIL) framework and our vision of the future for CALS.

Our publications

2026

Feinmesser, D., Shohat, S., Gerda, R., Nin Nun, A., Shoshani, A., Nasser Samra, N., Verbeke, W., Vrtička, P., Ein-Dor, T. (published online 09 February 2026). The Creative Mind in the Shadow of Depressive Symptoms: Epigenetic Variation in HPA Axis Genes Is Associated with the Link Between Depressive Symptoms and Creative Personality. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Opie, JE., Waters, E., Duschinsky, R., Hammarlund, M., Madigan, S., Foster, S., Forslund, T., Thompson, R., Steele, H., Steele, M., Roisman, GI., Groh, AM., Fonagy, P., Dagan, O., Talia, A., Rossen, L., Sroufe, AL., Tronick, E., Fearon, PM., Granqvist, P., Sagi-Schwartz, A., Lieberman, A., Carlson, E., Zimmermann, P., Dozier, M., Wazana, A., Belsky, J., Shaver, PR., Cicchetti, D., Bosmans, G., Schuengel, C., Grossmann, K., Cyr, C., Dubois-Comtois, K., Verhage, M., Tharner, A., Oosterman, M., Allen, B., Crowell, J., Vrticka, P., Woolgar, M., Raby, L., Holmes, J., Marvin, RS., van IJzendoorn, MH. and Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., Practitioner Review: Clinical Insights from Attachment Theory and Research for Professionals Working with Young Children and their Families. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. In press.
Rodrigues, I., Pereira, J., Costa, D., Correia, R., Simões, M., Direito, B., Vrtička, P., Sousa, T., Castelo-Branco, M. Modulation of Interbrain Synchrony by Emotional Valence and Maternal Presence in Mother–Child Dyads: Neural Links to Empathy and Attachment. Scientific Reports (accepted 02 March 2026).

2025

Puhlmann, L., Vrticka, P., Linz, R., Valk, SL., Papassotiriou, I., Chrousos, GP., Engert, V. and Singer, T., (2025). Serum Brain-Derived-Neurotrophic Factor increase after 9-month contemplative mental training is associated with decreased cortisol secretion and increased dentate gyrus volume. Evidence from a randomized clinical trial. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science.
De Felice, S., Chand, T., Croy, I., Engert, V., Goldstein, P., Holroyd, CB., Kirsch, P., Krach, S., Ma, Y., Scheele, D., Schurz, M., Schweinberger, SR., Hoehl, S. and Vrticka, P., (2025). Relational Neuroscience: Insights from hyperscanning research. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.
Dvilansky, AS., Zadok, H., Shoshan, A., Samra, NN., Verbeke, W., Vrticka, P. and Ein-Dor, T., (2025). The Long-Term Associations of Childhood Parental Loss With Attachment, Creativity, and Epigenetic Regulation. Scientific Reports.
Gallistl, M., Hamann, JE., Croy, I., Vrticka, P. and Engert, V., (2025). Support or Stress? How Attachment and Relationship Dynamics Associate with Acute Psychosocial Stress in the Presence of the Romantic Partner. Social Science and Medicine.
Oren, G., Shoshani, A., Nasser Samra, N., Verbeke, W., Vrticka, P., Aisnberg-Shafran, D. and Ein-Dor, T., (2025). From Trauma to Resilience: Psychological and Epigenetic Adaptations in the Third Generation of Holocaust Survivors. Scientific Reports.
Gallistl, M., Handke, L., Kungl, M., Gabler, S., Croy, I., Vrticka, P. and Engert, V., (2025). Securely Stressed: Association between Attachment and Empathic Stress in Romantic Couples. Scientific Reports.
Acil, D., Puhlmann, L., White, L. and Vrticka, P., (2025). Caregiver or Playmate? Fathers’ and mothers’ brain responses to ball-play with children. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience.
Fischer, A., Postin, D., Meiners, LJ., Kulke, L., Vrticka, P. and Schacht, A., (2025). Challenging the negativity bias in affective scene viewing: The role of social content. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
Schulz, C., Puhlmann, L., Folkens, L., Von Klitzing, K., Deserno, L., Vrticka, P. and White, L., (2025). Subcortical Brain Structures Among Maltreated Youth With High and Low Externalizing Problems. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Vrticka, P., (2025). L’attachement, les soins et le cerveau parental (Attachment, caregiving, and the parental brain). Sages-Femmes.

2024

Kungl, M., Gabler, S., White, LO., Spangler, G. and Vrticka, P., (2024). Precursors and effects of parental reflective functioning: Links to caregivers’ attachment representations and behavioral sensitivity. Child Psychiatry and Human Development.
Rigato, S., Vrticka, P., Stets, M. and Holmboe, K., (2024). Mother-infant interaction characteristics associate with infant falling reactivity and child peer problems at pre-school age. PLoS One.
Gallistl, M., Kungl, M., Gabler, S., Kanske, P., Vrticka, P. and Engert, V., (2024). Attachment and inter-individual differences in empathy, compassion, and theory of mind abilities. Attachment and Human Development.
Nguyen, T., Kungl, M., Hoehl, S., White, L. and Vrticka, P., (2024). Visualizing the invisible tie: Linking parent–child neural synchrony to parents’ and children's attachment representations. Developmental Science.
Izaki, A., Verbeke, W., Vrticka, P. and Ein-Dor, T., (2024). A Narrative on the Neurobiological Roots of Attachment-System Functioning. Communications Psychology.

2023

Puhlmann, L., Derome, M., Morosan, L., Kilicel, D., Vrticka, P. and Debbane, M., (2023). Association between self-reported attachment and neurostructural development throughout adolescence. Attachment and Human Development.
Kungl, M., Vrticka, P., Heinisch, C., Beckmann, MW., Fasching, PA., Ziegler, C. and Spangler, G., (2023). Deactivating attachment strategies associate with early processing of facial emotion and familiarity in middle childhood: An ERP study. Attachment and Human Development.
White, L., Kungl, M. and Vrticka, P., (2023). Charting the social neuroscience of human attachment (SoNeAt). Attachment and Human Development.
Burra, N. and Vrticka, P., (2023). Association between Attachment Anxiety and the Gaze Direction-Related N170. Attachment and Human Development.

2022

Schulz, C., von Klitzing, K., Deserno, L., Sheridan, MA., Crowley, MJ., Schoett, MJS., Hoffmann, F., Villringer, A., Vrticka, P. and White, LO., (2022). Emotional maltreatment and neglect impact neural activation upon exclusion in early and mid-adolescence: An event-related fMRI study. Development and Psychopathology.
Hoehne, K., Vrtička, P., Engert, V. and Singer, T., (2022). Plasma oxytocin is modulated by mental training, but does not mediate its stress-buffering effect. Psychoneuroendocrinology.

2021

Nguyen, T., Schleihauf, H., Kayhan, E., Mathes, D., Vrticka, P. and Hoehl, S., (2021). Neural synchrony in mother-child conversation: Exploring the role of communicative features. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
Nguyen, T., Schleihauf, H., Kungl, M., Kayhan, E., Hoehl, S. and Vrticka, P., (2021). Interpersonal neurobehavioral synchrony during father-child problem solving: An fNIRS hyperscanning study. Child Development.
White, LO., Bornemann, B., Crowley, MJ., Sticca, F., Vrticka, P., Stadelmann, S., Otto, Y., Klein, AM. and von Klitzing, K., (2021). Exclusion Expected? Cardiac Slowing Upon Peer Exclusion Links Preschool Parent Representations to School‐Age Peer Relationships. Child Development.
Puhlmann, R., Linz, R., Valk, S., Vrticka, P., Vos de Wael, R., Bernasconi, A., Bernasconi, N., Caldairou, B., Papassoririou, I., Chrousos, G., Bernhardt, B., Singer, T. and Engert, V., (2021). The association between hippocampal structure and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in healthy adults: a registered report. NeuroImage.
Nguyen, T., Hoehl, S. and Vrticka, P., (2021). A Guide to Parent-Child fNIRS Hyperscanning Data Processing and Analysis. Sensors.
Puhlmann, L., Vrticka, P., Linz, R., Stalder, T., Kirschbaum, C., Engert, V. and Singer, T., (2021). Contemplative mental training reduces hair glucocorticoid levels in a randomized clinical trial. Psychosomatic Medicine.
Long, M., Puhlmann, L. and Vrticka, P., (2021). Hypothalamus volume in men: Investigating associations with paternal status, self-reported caregiving beliefs and adult attachment style. Social Neuroscience.
van Assche, M., Simioni, S., Vrticka, P., Sander, D., Schluep, M. and Vuilleumier, P., (2021). Neuroimaging of emotional dysregulation in multiple sclerosis: relationship with alexithymia. Swiss Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry.

2020

Miller, JG., Shrestha, S., Reiss, AL. and Vrticka, P., (2020). Neural bases of social feedback processing and self–other distinction in late childhood: The role of attachment and age. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience.
Long, M., Verbeke, W., Ein-Dor, T. and Vrticka, P., (2020). A functional neuro-anatomical model of human attachment (NAMA): Insights from first- and second-person social neuroscience. Cortex.
Nguyen, T., Schleihauf, H., Kayhan, E., Matthes, D., Vrtička, P. and Hoehl, S., (2020). The effects of interaction quality on neural synchrony during mother-child problem solving. Cortex.
White, L., Schulz, C., Schoett, M., Kungl, M., Keil, J., Borelli, J. and Vrticka, P., (2020). Conceptual Analysis: A Social Neuroscience Approach to Interpersonal Interaction in the Context of Disruption and Disorganization of Attachment (NAMDA). Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Life at Essex

What it's like to live at Essex

Accommodation

Find your new home

Open Days

Come see for yourself