Love & the Brain

Love Around the World

Fisher’s Study

• Fisher found volunteers who were newly in love to participate

• But they had to be “so intensely in love that they could hardly eat or sleep, people whose romantic feelings were fresh, vivid, uncontrollable, and passionate.” (Fisher)

• They chose candidates who obsessively thought of their new love, an essential part of romantic passion

• Each subject was also given the “Passionate Love Scale” questionnaire

Fisher’s Study Cont’d

• Each subject was placed in an fMRI and looked at a picture of their love on a screen for 30 sec. while their brains were scanned for blood flow in different brain areas

• Then subjects were shown a large # and asked to count backwards by sevens to clear their thoughts of their love for 40 sec.

• Next they were shown a neutral picture for 30 sec. while their brain was scanned again

• The subjects were shown another large # and asked to count backward again

• This was repeated 6 times giving 144 scans of various brain regions per subject (Fisher)

Results

• Many areas of the brain are active for those in love, but two areas seem to be essential according to Fisher

• The caudate nucleus is a C-shaped region that is close to the middle of the brain. It is part of the reptilian brain, and there is one in each hemisphere (Fisher)

• “Scans showed that parts of the body and the tail of the caudate became particularly active as a lover gazed at the photo of their loved one.” (Fisher)

• The caudate plays a “key part in the body’s ‘reward system,’ the mind’s network for general arousal, sensations of pleasure and the motivation to acquire rewards.” (Fisher)

• “The more passionate they were,” as found in the Passionate Love Scale, “the more active their caudate was.” (Fisher)

Results Cont’d

• Another area of central activity when in passionate love was the ventral tegmental area (VTA), another vital part of the reward system in the brain (Fisher)

• “The VTA is a mother lode of dopamine-making cells. . . These nerve cells distribute dopamine to many brain regions, including the caudate nucleus.” (Fisher)

• As dopamine travels to other brain areas, “it produces focused attention as well as fierce energy, concentrated motivation to attain a reward, and feelings of elation—even mania—the core feelings of romantic love.” (Fisher)

3 Stops on the Love Train

• According to the article “Why We Love” Kluger notes that love is processed in 3 areas

• It starts in the VTA where loads of dopamine are being produced due to the trill of a new love (Kluger)

• Next, these thrill signals “are processed in the nucleus accumbens via not just dopamine but also serotonin and, importantly oxytocin. If ever there was a substance designed to bind, it’s oxytocin.” (Kluger)

• Oxytocin also infests the brain during childbirth and breastfeeding, one of the reasons new moms attach to their child so quickly without really knowing them yet (Kluger)

• It is here that the thrill transforms to obsession

Final Stop

• The love signals then proceed on to the caudate nuclei

• The caudate not only plays a role in the reward system but also contains patterns and routine habits, like knowing how to ride a bike or drive; you never really forget how (Kluger)

• It is no surprise then that love turns into a long lasting commitment

3 Stages of Love

• According to Fisher, there are 3 stages of love: lust, romantic love, and long-term attachment

• Lust is a sexual desire for another• “The aftermath of lustful sex is similar to the

state induced by taking opiates. . .” The chemical changes that occur include “increases in the levels of serotonin, oxytocin, vasopressin and endogenous opioids (the bodies natural equivalent of heroin.” (2004)

Romantic Love

• The next stage is attachment, obsessive or romantic love

• Lust gives way a deeper attachment and “actual behavior patterns,” according to Fisher, “of those in love. . . resemble obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).” (2004)

• Romantic love “is one of the strongest drives on Earth.” (2004)

• However, Fisher believes that romantic love is unstable

Long-term Attachment

• Long-term attachment or compassionate love “is characterized by feelings of calm, security, social comfort and emotional union.” (2004)

• This the goal of any couple, to pass beyond lust and initial thrill to a stable excitement free relationship, which is important to better raise a family. There is less distraction from the passion (Kluger)

• In spite of this, there are the very rare exceptions of couples who keep the passionate love which is shown to be true in fMRIs that show similar results to couples newly in love (Kluger)

Keeping the passion

• According to Gary Chapman, Ph.D, author of The Five Love Languages, you can keep passionate love for your spouse years down the road like rare couples showed in fMRIs

• Love is affected also by environmental factors, based on past experiences and social ideals (2004)

• Gary Chapman says that everyone has their own love language or the way the best receive and give love, and if you love your spouse through their language, you will keep the passionate love

The Five Languages

• The five ways people can communicate love are words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch (Chapman)

• We all receive love in multiple ways but we also have one in particular that communicates love best (Chapman)

• I am intrigued to how your love language would look on an fMRI verses being loved in the other languages, though I have no idea how this could be studied

Annotated Bibliography

(2004, February 14). I get a kick out of you. Economist, 370(8362), 54-60. Retrieved July 30, 2010, from Business Source Complete database.

This article describes love as an addiction and shows how vasopressin affects voles. It goes on to relate love to OCD and to mention that love is also affected by the cultural and social factors.

Chapman, G. (2004). The five love languages: how to express heartfelt commitment (new edition). Northfield Press: Chicago.

In his book, Chapman describes 5 different ways people receive love the best and teaches how you can keep the passion in your relationship by loving your spouse through their preferred love language.

Annotated Bibliography Cont’d

Fisher, H. (2004, January 19). Your brain in love. Time, 163(3), 80-83. Retrieved July 30, 2010, from Academic Source Complete database.

Fisher describes the process and results of her study on love. The study uses fMRIs to determine which parts of the brain are active in newly formed passionate love.

Kluger, J. (2008, January 28). Why we love. Time, 171(4), 54-60. Retrieved July 30, 2010, from Business Source Complete database.

Kluger teaches how people choose mates through senses such as smell. He goes on to describe how sex turns into love and how love becomes a habit. He also describes how the brain is affected when love doesn’t work out.

Q & A

• What chemical in the brain serves as a bonding agent?– Oxytocin