People often feel butterflies in their stomach when they come close to their loved ones! In other words, it is a mixed feeling of nervousness, anxiety and panic. In fact, the function of the brain is quite complex! Scientists have revealed that love spa…
People often feel butterflies in their stomach when they come close to their loved ones! In other words, it is a mixed feeling of nervousness, anxiety and panic. In fact, the function of the brain is quite complex! Scientists have revealed that love sparks activities in different areas of the human brain. According to researchers, only love can illuminate the dark chambers of the brain!
A glance at how a co-worker smiles or looks at someone can reveal a lot of secrets. However, there is no simple way to understand the complex activities that are going on inside the brain. A research paper, published in the Cerebral Cortex journal in the last week of August 2024, claimed so! However, love does not always mean a man-woman relationship, here. Researchers have claimed that they use the word love in a bewildering range of contexts, from sexual adoration to parental love or the love for nature.
A group of researchers from Aalto University in Finland used the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technology to measure the complex activities of the brain. With the help of fMRI technology, they traced various types of love and their impact on the activities of the brain. Researchers found that the feeling of love and activities of the brain depend on the environment and situation! Certain changes have been observed in different parts of the brain because of slight changes in the feeling of love. According to researchers, different types of love light up different parts of the brain. In fact, the fMRI technology has discovered six types of love which recruit reward and social cognition of brain areas in a different manner.
Pärttyli Rinne, the philosopher and researcher who coordinated the study, stressed that the activation pattern of love is generated in social situations in the basal ganglia, the midline of the forehead, the precuneus and the temporoparietal junction at the sides of the back of the head. Interestingly, love for one's children generated the most intense brain activity, closely followed by romantic love. Rinne explained: "In parental love, there was activation deep in the brain's reward system in the striatum area while imagining love, and this was not seen for any other kind of love."
As far as love for pets is concerned, Rinne stated: "You are home lolling on the couch and your pet cat pads over to you. The cat curls up next to you and purrs sleepily. You love your pet." He further said: "When looking at love for pets and the brain activity associated with it, brain areas associated with sociality statistically reveal whether or not the person is a pet owner. When it comes to pet owners, these areas are more active than with non-pet owners."
The research paper mentioned: "Unsurprisingly, compassionate love for strangers was less rewarding and caused less brain activation than love in close relationships. Meanwhile, love of nature activates the reward system and visual areas of the brain, but not the social brain areas." Researchers also found that the brain areas associated with love between people ended up being very similar, with differences lying primarily in the intensity of activation! The study noted that all types of interpersonal love activated areas of the brain associated with social cognition, in contrast to love for pets or nature.
Meanwhile, the researchers have expressed hope that their study would enhance mental health interventions in conditions, like attachment disorders, depression or relationship issues, in the coming days.
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