Interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) or relational neurobiology is an interdisciplinary framework that was developed in the 1990s by Daniel J. Siegel, who sought to bring together scientific disciplines to demonstrate how the mind, brain, and relationships integrate. IPNB views the mind as a process that regulates the flow of energy and information through its neurocircuitry, which is then shared and regulated between people through engagement, connection, and communication. Drawing on systems theory, Siegel proposed that these processes within interpersonal relationships can shape nervous system maturation. Siegel claimed that the mind has an irreducible quality which informs this approach. IPNB proposes that interpersonal experiences have substantial impact on brain development early in life. Siegel notes that disruptions to the continuity, presence, and availability of the caregiver result in attachment disorders that manifest as physical changes in neural structures that shape the perception of reality. The claim is that this influences emotional intelligence, complexity of behaviours, and flexibility of responses later in life. IPNB asserts a causal interaction between genetic composition and social experiences influencing neurobiological and psychological functioning.
History At the University of California Siegel gathered academics from fields including anthropology, physics, neuroscience, sociology, linguistics, genetics, and psychiatry. At this meeting, he argued that contemporary understanding of the 'mind' and the effect of social relationships on brain development/functioning was underdeveloped. The term mind lacks a rigorous definition. The oldest and still common reference is to Hippocrates text On the Sacred Disease which refers to the mind as 'brain activity'. This definition has been rejected by sociologists, linguists, and anthropologists who argued that interpersonal relationships should be part of the definition. This position is controversial, and neuroscientists and physicians have ridiculed this view, instead asserting that our thoughts and feelings, and therefore our mind, are an outcome of brain activity. This is the standard view in line with William James' 1890 text Principles of Psychology. Siegel counters that because developmental studies of child attachment relationships demonstrated that severed child relationships with parents could impede growth, sometimes even causing death, as first described in Sigmund Freud's 1927 text The Question of Lay Analysis, a more expansive view was warranted. Over the next four and half years Siegel and similar-minded colleagues began to construct the framework of interpersonal neurobiology. Other academics who have contributed to the concept of IPNB are Alan Schore, Louis Cozolino, and Bonnie Badenoch.
Aspects IPNB offers the Brain-Mind-Relationship or Triangle of Well-being concept to explain how social interactions shape neural connections. The biological and social interactions create continuous feedback loops, effected via neuroplasticity.
Brain/body The brain and body are intimately connected. The body holds multiple clusters of neurons. E.g., the human gut has approximately 100,000,000 neurons. Stephen Porges' polyvagal theory claims that the vagus nerve system is central to connecting these clusters. Siegel's model of the brain attempts to simplify the complexity of brain formation in emphasizing interaction between the brainstem, limbic systems (hippocampus and amygdala) and middle prefrontal cortex.
Brainstem: A major role of the brainstem involves regulation. This mediation of the autonomic nervous system (including the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems) controls our homeostasis of heart rate, breathing, hunger, and rest, as well as our fight/flight/freeze/faint responses to perceived threats and other stimuli. Hippocampus: The hippocampus is associated with explicit and declarative memory and begins development at approximately 18 months of age. Amygdala: The amygdala primarily processes memories, emotions, and decisions. It mediates fear, rapidly absorbing and analysing information faster than the conscious mind to potentially trigger a fight or flight response through the brain stem. Prefrontal cortex: Within the prefrontal cortex is the middle prefrontal region, including the orbitofrontal cortex, medial frontal gyrus and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. These areas are responsible for abstract ideas/thoughts, reasoning/thinking, and planning ahead. The area has been linked to regulation of the autonomic nervous system, social cognition, morality, and self-awareness. Due to the close proximity of the middle-prefrontal cortex, the brainstem, and limbic systems, Siegel argued that the integration of these areas via the prefrontal cortex that controlled nine essential neurobiological and interpersonal functions, including:
Body regulation Attuned communication Emotional balance Response flexibility Fear modulation Empathy Insight Moral awareness Intuition
Mind In IPNB, the mind is the embodied and relational process that regulates the flow of energy and information both within and between brains. IPNB decomposes the term mind into four facets:
Subjective experience - one's respective perception and felt texture of life Consciousness - the experience of knowing or being aware, and the knowledge or that awareness Information processing - collecting, storing, using, and producing information. Self-organisation - when the parts of a complex system differentiate and then link without external control. A failure of self-organisation leaves a chaotic or inflexible outcome.
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