We often use the term ‘love’ in many confusing ways — ranging from romantic attraction to the affection for a child or even love for nature. Recently, advancements in brain imaging techniques may help explain why this single term encompasses such a wide variety of human emotions.
We often use the term ‘love’ in many confusing ways — ranging from romantic attraction to the affection for a child or even love for nature. Recently, advancements in brain imaging techniques may help explain why this single term encompasses such a wide variety of human emotions.
Imagine seeing your newborn for the first time. The baby feels soft, looks healthy, and becomes the most wonderful sight in your life. You feel love for this little one.
This scenario was just one of several simple examples given to fifty-five parents, who described themselves as being in loving relationships. Researchers from Aalto University employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe brain activity while participants contemplated brief stories about six different varieties of love.
‘Our research offers a broader perspective on the brain’s activity tied to various forms of love compared to earlier studies,’ explains Pärttyli Rinne, the philosopher and researcher who led the investigation. ‘The brain regions activated by feelings of love are found in social contexts, particularly in the basal ganglia, the midline of the forehead, the precuneus, and the temporoparietal junction located at the sides of the back of the head.’
The love for children triggered the strongest brain activity, closely followed by romantic love.
‘In the case of parental love, the deep areas of the brain that govern rewards, specifically the striatum, showed activity when imagining feelings of love. This reaction was unique to parental love,’ Rinne notes. The study also explored love for romantic partners, friends, strangers, pets, and nature, and the findings were published this week in the *Cerebral Cortex* journal by Oxford University Press.
As per this research, brain activity is shaped not just by the bond with the loved one, but also by whether that being is human, from another species, or part of nature.
Interestingly, feelings of empathetic love towards strangers were less rewarding and caused a milder brain response compared to loving someone close to us. Meanwhile, the appreciation for nature stimulated both the reward centers and visual regions in the brain, but did not affect the social areas as much.
Pet owners distinguished by brain activity
Researchers were particularly surprised to find that the brain regions linked to love between humans were largely alike, with variations mainly in the strength of the responses. All types of love shared similar brain activations associated with social understanding, unlike the feelings for pets or nature, except for one scenario.
Participants’ brain responses to a description like this gave insight into whether they had a pet:
‘You’re lounging on the couch at home when your pet cat comes over. The cat snuggles next to you and purrs softly. You love your pet.’
‘When examining pet love and its related brain activity, areas connected to social interactions predict whether someone owns a pet. For pet owners, these regions showed more activity than for those without pets,’ states Rinne.
To maintain control over love activations during the study, neutral scenarios were presented that had minimal events occurring. For instance, simply staring out a bus window or brushing your teeth absent-mindedly. After each “love story” was acted out by a professional, participants were expected to visualize the corresponding emotion for ten seconds.
This is not Rinne and his team’s initial investigation into love; they include researchers Juha Lahnakoski, Heini Saarimäki, Mikke Tavast, Mikko Sams, and Linda Henriksson. This group has carried out numerous studies aimed at deepening our scientific understanding of human emotions. Last year, they produced research mapping subjects’ physical sensations of love, connecting strong physical experiences of love to intimate relationships.
Understanding the neural foundations of love can illuminate philosophical debates surrounding the essence of love, consciousness, and human connections. The researchers also aspire for their findings to enhance mental health strategies for concerns like attachment disorders, depression, or relationship difficulties.
