Faculty Opinions recommendation of Reward, motivation, and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love.

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eve Marder
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Reward Motivation

Reward, Motivation, and Emotion Systems Associated With Early-Stage Intense Romantic Love

2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Aron ◽  
Helen Fisher ◽  
Debra J. Mashek ◽  
Greg Strong ◽  
Haifang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ventral Tegmental Area ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Affect Intensity ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Trait Affect ◽  
Ventral Tegmental ◽  
Reward Functions ◽  
Reward Motivation ◽  
The Right

Early-stage romantic love can induce euphoria, is a cross-cultural phenomenon, and is possibly a developed form of a mammalian drive to pursue preferred mates. It has an important influence on social behaviors that have reproductive and genetic consequences. To determine which reward and motivation systems may be involved, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and studied 10 women and 7 men who were intensely “in love” from 1 to 17 mo. Participants alternately viewed a photograph of their beloved and a photograph of a familiar individual, interspersed with a distraction-attention task. Group activation specific to the beloved under the two control conditions occurred in dopamine-rich areas associated with mammalian reward and motivation, namely the right ventral tegmental area and the right postero-dorsal body and medial caudate nucleus. Activation in the left ventral tegmental area was correlated with facial attractiveness scores. Activation in the right anteromedial caudate was correlated with questionnaire scores that quantified intensity of romantic passion. In the left insula-putamen-globus pallidus, activation correlated with trait affect intensity. The results suggest that romantic love uses subcortical reward and motivation systems to focus on a specific individual, that limbic cortical regions process individual emotion factors, and that there is localization heterogeneity for reward functions in the human brain.

Raised plasma nerve growth factor levels associated with early-stage romantic love

2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enzo Emanuele ◽  
Pierluigi Politi ◽  
Marika Bianchi ◽  
Piercarlo Minoretti ◽  
Marco Bertona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Growth Factor ◽  
Growth Factor ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Nerve Growth

scholarly journals Romantic Love and Attentional Biases Toward Attractive Alternatives and Rivals: Long-Term Relationship Maintenance Among Female Chinese College Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 147470491989760
Author(s):  
Yidan Ma ◽  
Weifeng Xue ◽  
Guang Zhao ◽  
Shen Tu ◽  
Yong Zheng
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Chinese Women ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Relationship Maintenance ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Age Range

Studies about heterosexual individuals’ long-term relationship maintenance have indicated that committed individuals possess evolved psychological mechanisms that help protect their ongoing romantic relationships against threats from attractive others during early stage attentional processing when mating-related motivation is activated. In this study, two experiments tested the relationship maintenance mechanism among committed female college students in the Chinese cultural context under different love priming conditions. Committed Chinese women displayed inattention to attractive alternatives in positive love-scenario priming (Study 1: 114 female undergraduates, age range = 18–26 years), subliminal semantic love priming (Study 2: 110 female undergraduates, age range = 18–25 years), and baseline conditions (Studies 1 and 2). Those with high levels of chronic jealousy showed significantly increased attention to and difficulty disengaging attention from attractive rivals when subliminally primed with love. This provides further evidence, from an Eastern cultural context, for the existence of attentional biases toward attractive alternatives and rivals in early stage attentional processes for relationship maintenance. This research also illustrates the important role of romantic love in maintaining long-term romantic relationships.

Decreased lymphocyte dopamine transporter in romantic lovers

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatella Marazziti ◽  
Stefano Baroni ◽  
Gino Giannaccini ◽  
Armando Piccinni ◽  
Federico Mucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Cells ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Synaptic Cleft ◽  
Imaging Studies ◽  
Resting Lymphocytes ◽  
The Brain

ObjectiveThe role of dopamine (DA) in romantic love is suggested by different evidence and is supported by the findings of some brain imaging studies. The DA transporter (DAT) is a key structure in regulating the concentration of the neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft. Given the presence of DAT in blood cells, the present study aimed to explore it in resting lymphocytes of 30 healthy subjects of both sexes in the early stage of romantic love (no longer than 6 months), as compared with 30 subjects involved in a long-lasting relationship.MethodsAll subjects had no physical or psychiatric illness. The DAT was measured by means of the [3H]-WIN 35,428 binding and the [3H]-DA reuptake to resting lymphocytes membranes. Romantic love was assessed by a specific questionnaire developed by us.ResultsThe results showed that the subjects in the early phase of romantic love had a global alteration of the lymphocyte DAT involving both a decreased number of proteins (Bmax) and a reduced functionality (Vmax).ConclusionsTaken together, these findings would indicate the presence of increased levels of DA in romantic love that, if paralleled by similar concentrations in the brain, would explain some peculiar features of this human feeling.

Regional brain activity during early-stage intense romantic love predicted relationship outcomes after 40 months: An fMRI assessment

2012 ◽  
Vol 526 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaomeng Xu ◽  
Lucy Brown ◽  
Arthur Aron ◽  
Guikang Cao ◽  
Tingyong Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Regional Brain ◽  
Relationship Outcomes ◽  
Regional Brain Activity

scholarly journals Early Stage Romantic Love is Associated with Reduced Daily Cortisol Production

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omri Weisman ◽  
Inna Schneiderman ◽  
Orna Zagoory-Sharon ◽  
Ruth Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Romantic Love

scholarly journals Reward and motivation systems: A brain mapping study of early-stage intense romantic love in Chinese participants

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaomeng Xu ◽  
Arthur Aron ◽  
Lucy Brown ◽  
Guikang Cao ◽  
Tingyong Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Mapping ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Mapping Study

Alterations in the number of motoneurons containing immunoreactive calcitonin gene-related peptide(CGRP)& choline acetyltransferase(ChAT) in the cervical spinal cord of the wobbler mouse during the development of the motoneuron disease

1995 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 970-971
Author(s):  
L. Vacca-Galloway ◽  
Y.Q. Zhang ◽  
P. Bose ◽  
S.H. Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Cervical Spinal Cord ◽  
Wild Type Mouse ◽  
Reflex Response ◽  
Mouse Strains ◽  
Behavioral Tests ◽  
Wobbler Mouse ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
Stage 1

The Wobbler mouse (wr) has been studied as a model for inherited human motoneuron diseases (MNDs). Using behavioral tests for forelimb power, walking, climbing, and the “clasp-like reflex” response, the progress of the MND can be categorized into early (Stage 1, age 21 days) and late (Stage 4, age 3 months) stages. Age-and sex-matched normal phenotype littermates (NFR/wr) were used as controls (Stage 0), as well as mice from two related wild-type mouse strains: NFR/N and a C57BI/6N. Using behavioral tests, we also detected pre-symptomatic Wobblers at postnatal ages 7 and 14 days. The mice were anesthetized and perfusion-fixed for immunocytochemical (ICC) of CGRP and ChAT in the spinal cord (C3 to C5).Using computerized morphomety (Vidas, Zeiss), the numbers of IR-CGRP labelled motoneurons were significantly lower in 14 day old Wobbler specimens compared with the controls (Fig. 1). The same trend was observed at 21 days (Stage 1) and 3 months (Stage 4). The IR-CGRP-containing motoneurons in the Wobbler specimens declined progressively with age.

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