1 15 General introduction studied in the literature, the affective component of eye contact is a road less explored (Hietanen (2018), for a review). Interestingly, it is this affective component of eye contact that is specifically associated with social bond formation and maintenance, and thus highly relevant to study in the context of socio-emotional connectedness between parents and adolescents. The importance of eye contact in social interaction has also been emphasized by the finding that receiving a direct gaze from others signals social inclusion and usually induces positive feelings in people, as it resonates with our intrinsic need to belong and literally be ‘seen’ (Hietanen, 2018; Kobayashi & Hashiya, 2011). It may also serve as a way to gain information about others’ mental states and conveys signals of empathy and social intimacy to others (Cowan, 2015; Cowan et al., 2014; Kleinke, 1986). Moreover, it is known that prolonged eye contact results in stronger affective responses and can elicit higher order socio-emotional processes, such as theory of mind processing and mentalizing, that are important for its communicative intent (Cavallo et al., 2015; Kuzmanovic et al., 2009). In addition to its importance in social bond formation in general, eye contact may also serve as an important form of communication within the parent-child bond. It constitutes one of the first acts of reciprocity between a parent and its newborn baby and is thought to be an important facilitator for a strong parent-child bond and a secure attachment (Robson, 1967). Moreover, it has been shown that our tendency to make eye contact is innately driven as 2-5 days old newborns already show a preference for eye contact versus an averted gaze and 4-months-old infants show enhanced neural processing of faces with a direct versus averted gaze (Farroni et al., 2002). Being able to get the attention of one’s parent by making eye contact enables infants to signal their physical and emotional needs for food and comfort of the parent. At the same time, the rewarding impact of positive affect in response to eye contact with their child is thought to reinforce sensitive caregiving behavior in parents towards the child (Robson, 1967). Since affective responses to eye contact seem to be an innately driven adaptation to our complex social surroundings (Kobayashi & Hashiya, 2011), it does not come as a surprise that this is also reflected in our neural responses. Most neuroimaging studies conducted on eye contact have focused on neural responses to the detection and recognition of a direct versus averted gaze of others, using short stimuli of <2 seconds. These studies have broadly distinguished two networks: A subcortical pathway (i.e., superior colliculi/periaqueductal grey, pulvinar nuclei and amygdala) for a ‘quick and dirty’ detection of gaze direction and a more reflective cortical pathway (i.e., fusiform gyrus, superior temporal sulcus, medial prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex) for the evaluation of eye contact (Hietanen, 2018; Senju & Johnson, 2009). Only a small number of studies have focused more specifically on the affective and affiliative responses to prolonged eye contact during interpersonal contact with others, using stimuli with a longer presentation duration. These studies investigated higher-order processes, i.e., theory of mind
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