The neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp termed the cerebral apparatus governing these needs the “PANIC/GRIEF” system because, like a car alarm, these are the emotions that become activated in the absence of secure attachment. The message: we are wired to attach, to connect with one another, which we are able to do by dint of our early bonding with our caregivers. Not only that, but the wiring goes both ways: infants are “born to cry,” in Dr. Panksepp’s words, precisely to activate the nurturing brain structures and affectionate behaviors of the parents—what he called the CARE system.
