Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love

“More generally, the insula integrates information from various systems and engenders human awareness (Klein et al., 2007; Craig, 2009).”

“Since then, studies have applied attachment theory to adult romantic relationships (Hazan and Shaver, 1987; Mikulincer and Shaver, 2007) with some researchers suggesting that pair-bonds and parent–infant bonds share common biological substrates (Fisher, 1992; Carter, 1998).”

“Participants completed a battery of questionnaires including the Passionate Love Scale (Hatfield and Sprecher, 1986) and the Eros subscale of the Love Attitudes Scale (Hendrick and Hendrick, 1986) to measure passionate/romantic love; the IOS Scale (Aron et al., 1992) to measure closeness; and the 146 SCAN (2012) B.”

“Instructions were provided before and during scanning.”

“Some theories suggest that love inevitably declines over time in marriage or after the child-rearing years (Sternberg, 1986; Buss, 1989).”

“We anticipated activations in response to the partner in brain regions associated with attachment defined as a selective social/emotional bond (Bowlby, 1969).”

“Also, consistent with the definition of ‘including the other in the self’, IOS scores were positively associated with activation in areas reflecting self-referential processing, such as the middle insula and anterior cingulate (Northoff et al., 2006; Enzi et al., 2009, meta-analysis).”

“Some theories suggest that love inevitably declines over time in marriage or after the child-rearing years (Sternberg, 1986; Buss, 1989).”

“Other studies have shown the important role of the VTA and caudate nucleus in motivation, reinforcement learning and decision making (Delgado et al., 2003; O’Doherty et al., 2004; Carter et al., 2009).”

“For example, ‘felt security’ is proposed to be the set goal of the attachment system (Sroufe and Waters 1977).”

“OT and AVP have been shown to play a critical role in the regulation of social behaviors (Insel et al., 1994) and monogamous pair-bonding in rodent mammals (Young et al., 2001; Lim and Young, 2004; Young and Wang, 2004).”

“As shown in Table 1, regions commonly activated by maternal love (Bartels and Zeki, 2004; Strathearn et al., 2008), early-stage romantic love (Bartels and Zeki, 2000; Aron et al.”

“Since then, studies have applied attachment theory to adult romantic relationships (Hazan and Shaver, 1987; Mikulincer and Shaver, 2007) with some researchers suggesting that pair-bonds and parent–infant bonds share common biological substrates (Fisher, 1992; Carter, 1998).”

“Results are shown in Table 4.”

“, 2005) and it has been implicated in obsessive compulsive disorder (Menzies et al., 2008).”

“Participants completed a battery of questionnaires including the Passionate Love Scale (Hatfield and Sprecher, 1986) and the Eros subscale of the Love Attitudes Scale (Hendrick and Hendrick, 1986) to measure passionate/romantic love; the IOS Scale (Aron et al., 1992) to measure closeness; and the Downloaded from https…”

“Overall, results suggest that for some individuals the reward-value associated with a long-term partner may be sustained, similar to new love, but also involves brain systems implicated in attachment and pair-bonding.”

“ROI analyses for brain-behavior correlations were based on results from studies of early-stage romantic love (Bartels and Zeki, 2000; Aron et al., 2005; Ortigue et al., 2007) and maternal love (Bartels and Zeki, 2004).”

“These activations are indicated with the superscript ‘e’ in Table 1 to highlight common activation for Partner and CF effects.”

“, 1997; Napier and Mitrovic, 1999) and has been identified as a ‘hedonic hotspot’, mediating both ‘liking’ and ‘wanting’ for primary rewards (Berridge et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2010).”

“Instructions were provided before and during scanning.”

“It is widely accepted that activation of dopamine-rich sites, such as the VTA and caudate, are evoked in response to rewards such as food (Hare et al., 2008), monetary gains (Delgado et al., 2003; D’Ardenne et al., 2008; Carter et al., 2009), cocaine and alcohol (Heinz et al., 2004; Risinger et…”

“For example, the self-expansion model (Aron and Aron, 1986) proposes that romantic love is the experience of rapid self-expansion by including a particular person in the self (Aron et al., 1996).”

“…evoked in response to rewards such as food (Hare et al., 2008), monetary gains (Delgado et al., 2003; D’Ardenne et al., 2008; Carter et al., 2009), cocaine and alcohol (Heinz et al., 2004; Risinger et al., 2005) and overall highly motivational stimuli (Knutson and Greer, 2008; Carter et al., 2009).”

“Participants completed a battery of questionnaires including the Passionate Love Scale (Hatfield and Sprecher, 1986) and the Eros subscale of the Love Attitudes Scale (Hendrick and Hendrick, 1986) to measure passionate/romantic love; the IOS Scale (Aron et al., 1992) to measure closeness; and the Downloaded from https…”

“One implication of the model is that couples’ shared participation in novel and challenging activities, if not overly stressful, may promote increases in romantic love as the reward-value associated with the experience becomes associated with the relationship (Aron et al., 2000).”

“Although little is known about the posterior hippocampal region, some studies have shown increased activation in this area in association with hunger and food craving (LaBar et al., 2001; Pelchat et al., 2004), with particularly greater activity shown in obese individuals (Bragulat et al., 2010).”

“, 2008), monetary gains (Delgado et al., 2003; D’Ardenne et al., 2008; Carter et al., 2009), cocaine and alcohol (Heinz et al.”

“…by which humans and other mammals may enact behaviors that maintain (e.g. proximity maintenance and doing things to make the partner happy) and protect (rejection of unfamiliar conspecifics) their pair-bonds (Winslow et al., 1993; Carter et al., 1995; Wang et al., 1997; Aragona et al., 2003).”

“…posterior cingulate has been implicated in autobiographical memory retrieval such as when listening to familiar names (such as a spouse, parent or child) vs nonfamiliar person names (Maddock et al., 2001), or when viewing images of a familiar child vs an unfamiliar child (Leibenluft et al., 2004).”

“, 2008) and animal studies of pair-bonding (Young et al., 2001).”

“Activation of the hypothalamus is consistent with research implicating it in autonomic sexual arousal (Karama et al., 2002).”

“…posterior cingulate has been implicated in autobiographical memory retrieval such as when listening to familiar names (such as a spouse, parent or child) vs nonfamiliar person names (Maddock et al., 2001), or when viewing images of a familiar child vs an unfamiliar child (Leibenluft et al., 2004).”

“As shown in Table 1, regions commonly activated by maternal love (Bartels and Zeki, 2004; Strathearn et al., 2008), early-stage romantic love (Bartels and Zeki, 2000; Aron et al.”

“OT and AVP have been shown to play a critical role in the regulation of social behaviors (Insel et al., 1994) and monogamous pair-bonding in rodent mammals (Young et al., 2001; Lim and Young, 2004; Young and Wang, 2004).”

“…activation of dopamine-rich sites, such as the VTA and caudate, are evoked in response to rewards such as food (Hare et al., 2008), monetary gains (Delgado et al., 2003; D’Ardenne et al., 2008; Carter et al., 2009), cocaine and alcohol (Heinz et al., 2004; Risinger et al., 2005) and overall…”

“, 2009), cocaine and alcohol (Heinz et al., 2004; Risinger et al., 2005) and overall highly motivational stimuli (Knutson and Greer, 2008; Carter et al.”

“Instructions were provided before and during scanning.”

“, 1989; Peckys and Landwehrmeyer, 1999), associated with pain suppression (Bittar et al., 2005).”

“Thus, adult attachment work has been built on the notion that pair-bonds are the adult instantiation of attachment in childhood (Ainsworth, 1991).”

“ROI analyses for the HFN vs LFN contrast showed activation in the left GP, amygdala, bilaterally in the dorsal head of the caudate nucleus, on the right side of the middle insula and in the dorsal Raphe nucleus.”

“Several of the regions noted above (e.g. the SN, GP and thalamus) have a high density of oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) receptors (Jenkins et al., 1984; Loup et al., 1991).”

“…by which humans and other mammals may enact behaviors that maintain (e.g. proximity maintenance and doing things to make the partner happy) and protect (rejection of unfamiliar conspecifics) their pair-bonds (Winslow et al., 1993; Carter et al., 1995; Wang et al., 1997; Aragona et al., 2003).”

“Novel, rewarding experiences may use dopamine-rich systems (Schultz, 2001; Guitart-Masip et al., 2010) similar to those activated in this study.”

“An obsession-item PLS correlation in the medial caudate and septum/fornix replicated the PLS correlations found for early-stage romantic love (Aron et al., 2005) and rejection in love (Fisher et al., 2010).”

“OT and AVP have been shown to play a critical role in the regulation of social behaviors (Insel et al., 1994) and monogamous pair-bonding in rodent mammals (Young et al., 2001; Lim and Young, 2004; Young and Wang, 2004).”

“…July 2018 long-term romantic love would involve dopamine-rich subcortical brain regions associated with reward, particularly the ventral tegmental area (VTA), reported in several studies of early-stage romantic love (Bartels and Zeki, 2000; Aron et al., 2005; Ortigue et al., 2007; Xu et al., 2010).”

“Similarly, the intimacy model suggests that rapid increases in intimacy promote increases in passion (Baumeister and Bratslavsky, 1999).”

“Results from the present study add to this body of knowledge suggesting that romantic love associated with engagement, sexual interest and lower attention to alternative partners (Miller, 1997; Maner et al., 2008) may promote pair-bond maintenance through sustained reward.”

“Acevedo and Aron (2009) suggest that intense romantic love (with intensity, engagement and sexual desire) exists in some long-term relationships, but generally without the obsession component common in the early-stages of relationships.”

“We also found a correlation with activity in the PAG, an area rich in OT, AVP and opioid receptors (Jenkins et al., 1984; Loup et al., 1989; Peckys and Landwehrmeyer, 1999), associated with pain suppression (Bittar et al.”

“Overall, results suggest that for some individuals the reward-value associated with a long-term partner may be sustained, similar to new love, but also involves brain systems implicated in attachment and pair-bonding.”

“, 2008) and for those experiencing cocaine-induced ‘high’ (Risinger et al., 2005).”

“Indeed, downward comparisons relative to others’ relationships seem to be a cognitive mechanism that may promote relationship commitment (Rusbult et al., 2000).”

“Lesion studies have shown that disruptions in the GP cause aversion to previously pleasant foods (Cromwell and Berridge, 1993).”

“Also, studies show that hippocampal lesions in rodents disrupt the animals’ ability to distinguish hunger and satiation signals (Davidson and Jarad, 1993).”

“, 2005) and overall highly motivational stimuli (Knutson and Greer, 2008; Carter et al., 2009).”

“…by which humans and other mammals may enact behaviors that maintain (e.g. proximity maintenance and doing things to make the partner happy) and protect (rejection of unfamiliar conspecifics) their pair-bonds (Winslow et al., 1993; Carter et al., 1995; Wang et al., 1997; Aragona et al., 2003).”

“Results from the present study add to this body of knowledge suggesting that romantic love associated with engagement, sexual interest and lower attention to alternative partners (Miller, 1997; Maner et al., 2008) may promote pair-bond maintenance through sustained reward.”

“Thus, present findings are in line with behavioral observations suggesting that one key distinction between romantic love in its early and later stages is greater calm associated with the latter (Tennov, 1979; Eastwick and Finkel, 2008; Acevedo and Aron, 2009).”

“Especially interesting to the present study is the correlation of the VTA activity in relation to the PLS (nonobsessive items) and Eros scores, which replicated PLS results for early-stage romantic love (Ortigue et al., 2007).”

“Lesions of the septum/fornix have been implicated in anxiety reduction in rats (Decker et al., 1995; Degroot and Treit, 2004).”

“Also, consistent with the definition of ‘including the other in the self’, IOS scores were positively associated with activation in areas reflecting self-referential processing, such as the middle insula and anterior cingulate (Northoff et al., 2006; Enzi et al., 2009, meta-analysis).”

“We also found a correlation with activity in the PAG, an area rich in OT, AVP and opioid receptors (Jenkins et al., 1984; Loup et al., 1989; Peckys and Landwehrmeyer, 1999), associated with pain suppression (Bittar et al.”

“Although little is known about the posterior hippocampal region, some studies have shown increased activation in this area in association with hunger and food craving (LaBar et al., 2001; Pelchat et al., 2004), with particularly greater activity shown in obese individuals (Bragulat et al., 2010).”

“We also found a correlation with activity in the PAG, an area rich in OT, AVP and opioid receptors (Jenkins et al., 1984; Loup et al., 1989; Peckys and Landwehrmeyer, 1999), associated with pain suppression (Bittar et al.”

“Lesions of the septum/fornix have been implicated in anxiety reduction in rats (Decker et al., 1995; Degroot and Treit, 2004).”

“Significant neural activations were found in regions of the VTA/SN, dorsal Raphe nucleus, caudate, putamen, posterior GP, thalamus, anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, insular cortex, mid-insula, posterior hippocampus, middle temporal gyrus, amygdala, angular gyrus and cerebellum (Table 2).”

“The VTA is centrally placed in a wider motivational/reward network associated with behaviors necessary for survival (Camara et al., 2009).”

“In addition, the GP is a major site for opiate receptors (Olive et al., 1997; Napier and Mitrovic, 1999) and has been identified as a ‘hedonic hotspot’, mediating both ‘liking’ and ‘wanting’ for primary rewards (Berridge et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2010).”

“Novel, rewarding experiences may use dopamine-rich systems (Schultz, 2001; Guitart-Masip et al., 2010) similar to those activated in this study.”

“Although little is known about the posterior hippocampal region, some studies have shown increased activation in this area in association with hunger and food craving (LaBar et al., 2001; Pelchat et al., 2004), with particularly greater activity shown in obese individuals (Bragulat et al., 2010).”

“Other theories suggest that over time, passionate/romantic love, defined as ‘a state of intense longing for union with another’ generally evolves into companionate love with deep friendship, easy companionship and sharing of common interests, but not necessarily involving intensity, sexual desire, or attraction (Bersc…”

“In addition, the GP is a major site for opiate receptors (Olive et al., 1997; Napier and Mitrovic, 1999) and has been identified as a ‘hedonic hotspot’, mediating both ‘liking’ and ‘wanting’ for primary rewards (Berridge et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2010).”

“Bartels and Zeki (2004) for maternal love.”

“Reward system studies suggest that the posterior hippocampus is an important structure in memory, perhaps of stimuli associated with primary rewards (Fernandez and Kroes, 2010).”

“Interestingly, viewing the face of a romantic partner activated reward-associated regions such as the ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens (2, 58).”

“The first is the ‘reward-motivation’ system, including the striatum (NA, caudate, putamen), amygdala, VTA, OFC, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), and ACC, employing DA- and OT-rich pathways [12,130,131], and supporting multiple attachment-related motivational behaviors, such as social orienting, social seeking,…”

“…brain regions implicated in maternal attachment were also shown to be activated in prolonged romantic relationships as assessed by both fMRI (Acevedo et al., 2011) and ERP (Weisman et al., in press), consistent with the position that parental and romantic attachment share underlying…”

“These regions have been implicated n higher processes occurring across broader time scales, such as ong term romantic love (Acevedo et al., 2012), acute grief followng the death of offspring (Kersting et al., 2009), and bereavement ollowing the death of a spouse (Gündel et al., 2003).”