Cited by 307Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorAttachment and Relationship Dynamics

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 399 of the 407 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 2 of the 321 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

The behavioral, anatomical and pharmacological parallels between social attachment, love and addiction

Open access
Burkett, James P., Young, Larry J.·2012·Psychopharmacology

Abstract

Love has long been referred to as an addiction in literature and poetry. Scientists have often made comparisons between social attachment processes and drug addiction, and it has been suggested that the two may share a common neurobiological mechanism. Brain systems that evolved to govern attachments between parents and children and between monogamous partners may be the targets of drugs of abuse and serve as the basis for addiction processes. Here, we review research on drug addiction in parallel with research on social attachments, including parent–offspring attachments and social bonds between mating partners. This review focuses on the brain regions and neurochemicals with the greatest overlap between addiction and attachment and, in particular, the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway. Significant overlap exists between these two behavioral processes. In addition to conceptual overlap in symptomatology, there is a strong commonality between the two domains regarding the roles and sites of action of DA, opioids, and corticotropin-releasing factor. The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin are hypothesized to integrate social information into attachment processes that is not present in drug addiction. Social attachment may be understood as a behavioral addiction, whereby the subject becomes addicted to another individual and the cues that predict social reward. Understandings from both fields may enlighten future research on addiction and attachment processes.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This review argues that social attachment and love share behavioral, anatomical, and pharmacological parallels with drug addiction, especially within the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. It proposes a “partner addiction” hypothesis in which attachment can be understood as addiction to another individual and the cues predicting social reward.

Key findings

  • Behavioral criteria for substance dependence overlap with normal romantic attachment phenomena such as tolerance, withdrawal, craving, relapse, and neglect of other responsibilities; the authors note that adult pair bonds occur in only 3–5% of mammalian species, whereas up to 90% of bird species are monogamous.
  • Dopamine, opioids, and CRF systems overlap between addiction and attachment: in prairie voles, pair bonding is prevented by DA receptor blockade in the nucleus accumbens shell, D2R activation induces bonding without mating, D1R activation prevents bonding, and cohabitation increases D1R expression in the NAC by 60% relative to same-sex sibling cohabitation.
  • Opioid findings include that MOR in the caudate-putamen is necessary for pair bond formation, KOR in the NAC shell mediates pair bond maintenance/selective aggression, and the human MOR A118G variant is associated with altered attachment style and increased alcohol dependence risk.
  • Oxytocin and vasopressin are proposed to integrate social information into attachment: OT in the NAC is necessary and sufficient for female prairie vole pair bonding and interacts with D2R; human OT is higher during early romantic relationships and predicts which couples stay together after 6 months, while a human AVP V1aR variant is associated with males being half as likely to be married and twice as likely to report major relationship problems.

Methods

  • Narrative review, not a systematic review or meta-analysis, synthesizing animal and human research on drug addiction and social attachment with focus on the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and DA, opioids, CRF, oxytocin, and vasopressin.
  • Animal evidence includes drug self-administration, conditioned place preference, reinstatement, and compulsive drug-seeking paradigms, plus maternal attachment models in sheep, rats, mice, and Rhesus macaques and pair-bonding studies in prairie voles using partner preference and selective aggression.
  • Human parallel evidence includes PET, genetic association, plasma oxytocin, and other human studies; the main analysis is conceptual and neurobiological comparison leading to the partner addiction hypothesis.

Limitations

  • Stated in the paper: extrapolation from animal maternal attachment and pair bonding to human love relies on a debated supposition; complete animal models of addiction are considered impossible by some; not all researchers agree that tolerance and withdrawal represent addiction-related phenomena; sources of CRF projections into the VTA and NAC shell are unknown; CRF action in the NAC during social loss remains a hypothesis to be tested; and there is a relative lack of studies showing that OT antagonists alone affect drug-related processes.
  • Evident from the text: as a narrative review, it does not report a systematic search strategy, quality assessment, or meta-analysis, and many conclusions rest on animal models plus correlational human genetic or physiological findings rather than experimental causal evidence in humans.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s00213-012-2794-x

Cites

399 of 399 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

177 Not checked yet · 64 Own interpretation · 8 No basis given · 1 Supported · 1 Partly supported · accuracy not yet measured

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Show all 136 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 17
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 107
115 of 115
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The maternal attachment and pair bonding behaviors observed in animals are the evolutionary antecedents of human social attachments, which the paper refers to as love.

    “Our extrapolation from animal studies of maternal attachment and pair bonding to human love relies on the supposition that these behaviors are the evolutionary antecedents of human social attachments, which we refer to as love.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    These behaviors in humans and animals share common underlying neurobiological mechanisms.

    “While this may be debated, it is likely that these behaviors in humans and animals share common underlying neurobiological mechanisms.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Findings from animal models of attachment, such as prairie voles and rodents, can be generalized to human attachment and love.

    “Human studies have shown the role of OT and OTR is largely conserved across species.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The neurochemical systems underlying maternal bonding and pair bonding are the same systems that drugs of abuse subvert.

    “These data also provide evidence for the theory that social attachment systems governing maternal bonding and pair bonding to a mating partner are subverted by drugs of abuse to create addictions that are just as powerful as natural attachments.”
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Citations

Cites

Show all 407 references

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Freeman SM, Young LJ (2012) Oxytocin, vasopressin, and the evolution of monogamy in mammals. In: Choleris E, Pfaff DW (eds) Oxytocin and vasopressin. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  2. Nakajima S (1986) Suppression of operant responding in the rat by dopamine D1-receptor blockade with SCH-23390. Physiol Psychol 14:111–114
  3. Plato Rowe CJ (1986) Phaedrus. Aris & Phillips, Warminster, Distributed in the USA and Canada by Humanities Press

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Burkett, J. P., & Young, L. J.
Affiliations
Emory University (US)
Corresponding author
Young, Larry J.
Venue
Psychopharmacology
Published
2012-08-11
Volume
224
Issue
1
Pages
1-26
ISSN
  • 0033-3158 (ISSN-L)
  • 1432-2072
OpenAlex
W2063959832
Cited by
307
References
407
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 3
FWCI
2.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (P51OD011132)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH-64692, K02MH064692)
  • National Center for Research Resources (P51RR000165)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Keywords
social attachment, love, addiction, drug addiction, mesolimbic dopamine system, opioids, corticotropin-releasing factor, oxytocin, vasopressin, social reward, neurobiology of attachment
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Dopamine, Humans, Love, Object Attachment, Pair Bond, Parent-Child Relations, Reward, Social Behavior, Behavior, Addictive, Substance-Related Disorders

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