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Pascal Vrticka

@pvrticka.bsky.social

Associate Professor in Psychology @universityofessex.bsky.social (Colchester, UK) | PI of @soneatlab.bsky.social | fNIRS hyperscanning & structural and functional MRI | Attachment & caregiving in families & couples | TEDx speaker | https://pvrticka.com | 🇨🇭

316 Posts2157 Follower3620 Folgt
Dan Quintana@dsquintana.bsky.social · 3mo ago

For those with healthy enough boundaries to avoid bluesky over the weekend, here's a thread on my new preprint formalising the Allostatic Theory of Oxytocin (and what it taught me about theory-building in psychology)

Dan Quintana@dsquintana.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Why are oxytocin study results so inconsistent? Methods get most of the blame, but the problem is also theoretical as existing accounts are too vague to falsify. In a new preprint, I formalise the Allostatic Theory of Oxytocin as a computational model osf.io/preprints/ps... 🧵

Oxytocin's effects on human behaviour are inconsistent across studies, persisting despite improvements in methodological rigour. Part of this problem is theoretical: existing verbal accounts do not specify predictions precisely enough to be falsified. Here I formalise the Allostatic Theory of Oxytocin as a computational model, deriving eight testable propositions and evaluating each against simulation evidence. Three structural predictions that follow directly from the model's assumptions were confirmed. Of five genuinely discriminating tests, three were supported. The two unsupported propositions revealed boundary conditions the verbal theory could not identify. Formalisation underscored the importance of validating auxiliary assumptions regarding optimal oxytocin dosing and the measurement of baseline endogenous oxytocin levels, without which tests of the theory cannot be conclusively interpreted. Altogether, this formalisation provides a more precise and falsifiable account of oxytocin's role in behaviour than currently exists, and a template for incrementally refining verbal theories in psychology through formal specification.
Maria Meier@mariame.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Very cool feature to add your neuroscience methods as badge to your handle! ⬇️ Tagging #fNIRS 🧠🔦 folks here to spread the word @pvrticka.bsky.social @nirx-nirs.bsky.social @artinis.bsky.social @kathlingelbach.bsky.social @katharinastute.bsky.social

Natalie Schaworonkow@nschawor.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I played around with building a bluesky labeler for neuroscience methods. subscribe to: neuromethods.bsky.social and like the corresponding post to have a shiny methods label appear in your profile.

Pascal Vrticka@pvrticka.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Heute etwas Kurzes für das deutschsprachige Publikum: #Beziehungsstress #Bindungstypen: Wir können ändern, wie wir lieben Beitrag von Deutschlandfunk Nova vom 09. Oktober 2025 www.deutschlandfunknova.de/beitrag/wie-... @universityofessex.bsky.social @soneatlab.bsky.social #Bindung #Attachment

Bindungstypen: Wir können ändern, wie wir lieben

Bindungstypen: Welche Bedürfnisse wir in Beziehungen haben, ist unterschiedlich. Das wird schon in der Kindheit geprägt. Aber: Er kann sich auch ändern.

deutschlandfunknova.de

Pascal Vrticka@pvrticka.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Somehow, the ticket link doesn't appear to work... Here it is again: tickets.sheepcrm.com/oxpip/event/...

Attachment and Child Development: From Myths to Modern Neuroscience

**These days attachment is literally everywhere… but what is fact and what is fiction, and how can we tell apart myths from reality? Pascal’s talk will focus on one area where there currently is plent...

tickets.sheepcrm.com

Pascal Vrticka@pvrticka.bsky.social · 11mo ago

I am very much looking forward to my @oxpip.bsky.social online lecture on #Attachment and #Child #Development: From #Myths to Modern #Neuroscience. 📅 03 October 2025, 13:00-15:00 🎟️ Tickets are still available: tickets.sheepcrm.com/.../67ee7a6a... It would be a great pleasure to see you there.

Pascal Vrticka@pvrticka.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Now happening at #FLUX2025 @fluxsociety.bsky.social 👇🏻 Interested in #fNIRS #hyperscanning in #parent #child dyads & #families? Check out our posters & talk by my @soneatlab.bsky.social ! And do let me know if you want to meet for a chat 😊.

Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment (SoNeAt) Lab@soneatlab.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Come and find our SoNeAt Lab (@universityofessex.bsky.social) at this year's #FLUX2025 in #Dublin! We are participating in 4 events, including a pre-conference workshop on #hyperscanning with @artinis.bsky.social, 2 #poster sessions by Ricky and Laura, and a symposium talk by @pvrticka.bsky.social👇🏻

Anna Alexandrova@annaalexandrova.bsky.social · last yr.

Robbie Duschinsky has written an #openaccess book on #attachment research in developmental psychology. How it started, how it changed, and how differently labs measure it. Overall thesis: attachment theory is not one unified paradigm. Check out this work of deep expertise.

Developments in Attachment Research

Abstract. Developments in Attachment Research explores the contributions of several research groups in developmental science that have shaped the study of

academic.oup.com

Carlo Schuengel@carloschuengel.bsky.social · last yr.

@robbieduschinsky.bsky.social , who is not an active poster on BlueSky, wrote this beautiful piece about being an #attachment researcher and a father of a child with severe #disability. Sharing for other parents www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

‘Attachment research gave some indication where we could start in trying to parent our seriously unwell daughter’ | BPS

Robbie Duschinsky (University of Cambridge) reflects on parenting a profoundly unwell and disabled child whilst undertaking research and writing about attachment.

bps.org.uk