Overview of Limbic Resonance, Regulation, and Revision
The classic text, A General Theory of Love, by Lewis et al. (2000) introduces the concepts of attachment fundamental to this case study.
Limbic Resonance
The limbic system is found within the brain of all mammalian species. Reptiles, lacking these limbic structures, do not demonstrate loving care for their issue but are instead predisposed to eat their offspring. The biological adaptation of the development of the limbic systems in mammals gives rise to the instinctual care of their young (Lewis et al., 2000).
Limbic resonance, a biological symbiotic alignment between the brains of mother and child, is observable in animal studies, and applies to humans, also. Primates reared without an attachment figure demonstrate unrelenting aggression, but those raised with their simian parent show a calming of aggression; parental socialization also enables the young monkeys to observe and participate in social interactions (Lewis et al., 2000). The sad Harlow studies (1958) demonstrated the need for mammals to be raised with a loving connection to an adult. Obtaining mere sustenance from a wire-framed “mother substitute” left the monkeys with limbic deficits, absent the limbic resonance they so craved (Lewis et al., 2000). This concept will be explored further subsequently in this chapter.
Attunement
Limbic resonance leads to bonding and maternal attunement to the child’s needs. In humans, symbiotic attachment of infant to mother and bonding of mother to baby serve as a template for the child’s socioemotional development.
Limbic Regulation
Limbic regulation occurs when the proximity of mammalian mothers regulates biological and behavioral systems in their offspring (Lewis et al., 2000). Serving as a “hidden regulator” (Norton, 2020), the mother is a breathing prototype for the neonate, regardless of species. Biological and behavioral systems in rodent progeny become dysregulated when the mother’s physical presence is removed. “The mother’s regulatory effects … can only be appreciated in her absence” (Norton, 2020, p. 2).
Maternal presence provides a somatosensory source of stimulation—temperature, position, vibration, movement, touch, pain, pressure (Norton, 2020)—as well as a biological template for heart rate, respiration, and emotional regulation (Lewis et al., 2000). Moreover, maternal proximity confers upon the mammalian infant the benefits of healthy sleep patterns, and is thought to reduce infant crying and colic (Norton, 2020).
Proximity is imperative for emotional homeorhesis in the infant, and rodent pups separated from their mothers exhibit reduced heart rate, temperature, and respiration, yet prolonged separation adversely affects the development of the pup’s health and stress response (Norton, 2020). In humans, those raised without the limbic resonance provided by a loving and attuned parent figure grow to adulthood lacking the internal system to regulate one’s own emotions, and their limbic dysregulation has profound consequences (Lewis et al., 2000), as illustrated in this case study.