Over 90 Total Lots Up For Auction at One Location - WA 04/08

Look of love: MRI study shows romance's lasting brain changes

by Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | March 16, 2015
CT X-Ray
Even without actively thinking of their sweetheart, a person in love demonstrates different brain activity than someone who is not in love, according to a new study conducted using resting-state fMRI.

While fMRI has repeatedly illustrated that brain activity is altered by looking at the photograph of a loved one, this new research is the first indication that love has an enduring effect on brain activity.

Using flyers and Internet advertisements, the researchers solicited healthy, heterosexual college students from Southwest University in Chongqing, China. After interviewing them, 100 of the students were divided into three groups: people intensely in love, people coming out of a big break-up, and people who had never been in love.
stats
DOTmed text ad

We repair MRI Coils, RF amplifiers, Gradient Amplifiers and Injectors.

MIT labs, experts in Multi-Vendor component level repair of: MRI Coils, RF amplifiers, Gradient Amplifiers Contrast Media Injectors. System repairs, sub-assembly repairs, component level repairs, refurbish/calibrate. info@mitlabsusa.com/+1 (305) 470-8013

stats
Using a 3T Siemens scanner, the researchers found that regional homogeneity of the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was significantly increased among people in love. That increase was positively correlated with length of time in love. For those in the second — out of love — group, there was a negative correlation of that brain activity since breaking up.

They also found that functional connectivity within the reward, motivation, and emotion regulation network as well as in the social cognition network, were each increased among people who were in the midst of a romantic relationship.

The research appeared in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, an open-access publisher of scientific studies. The authors said this is the first empirical evidence of love-related alterations in the underlying functional architecture of the brain.

You Must Be Logged In To Post A Comment