ABSTRACT
Early attachment relationships have long-lasting effects on developing minds and bodies. They influence our fear system and sexual development. They shape our attitudes to romantic relationships, our parenting style and how we see both ourselves and others. Modern evolutionary theory has a different perspective. No single trajectory is best for all individuals of a species; what is optimal in one environment is rarely optimal in a different one. The quality of parental nurturance provided that information in an implicit and embodied form. Parents are more attuned to their infants when living in benign environments and when they have plentiful social support, than when they are struggling. Thus, the quality of parental nurturance became the crucial, albeit unwitting, cue which influenced development. It creates profound suffering at both emotional and physical levels. However, for those of our ancestors who were born into harsh physical or social environments, that suffering was the price of surviving and bearing descendents.
