When a couple falls in love, no doubt they each think the other feels the exact same way. Science tells us they don't. Using a functional MRI scanner, researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey analyzed the brain activity of 17 young men and women who claimed to be madly in love. They determined the following, reports Science Daily:
- A woman in love is an emotional woman, who isn't particularly focused on sex. The memory regions of the brain are the most active, driven by the attention lavished on her by her new boyfriend.
- A man in love is a man in lust. His brain shows extra activity in the visual areas that mediate sexual arousal.
The early stages of a romantic relationship are a lot like eating chocolate--at least as far as our brains are concerned. The dopamine-drenched brain is very focused on planning and the pursuit of a pleasurable reward. The same regions become active when we fall in love as when we enjoy the pleasure of eating chocolate, says lead researcher Helen Fisher. More ominously, the brain in love also shows patterns that resemble aspects of obsessive compulsive disorder.
Romantic love is a developed form of three primary brain networks that evolved so we could reproduce. According to Fisher, these are:
- Sex Drive: This evolved to motivate individuals to seek sex with any appropriate partner. This is especially active for men.
- Attraction: This is the precursor of romantic love and evolved to allow individuals to pursue preferred mating partners, which conserved courtship time and energy.
- Attachment: This evolved to allow men and women to remain with a mate long enough to complete parenting duties. This is especially active for women.
The research findings were published by the Society For Neuroscience.
