Neural Correlates of Romantic Love

Romantic Love: Neural Correlates

         The behavior that I have chosen to analyze for this project is the human proclivity to engage in romantic relationships, or, more colloquially, to fall in love. Romantic love is a complex state of being, characterized by an abundance of physiological and emotional indicators. In brief, it can be described as a strong feeling of intimacy, compassion and commitment towards another individual, combined with a simpler sense of sexual arousal and biological attraction. This type of dynamic chemistry can lead to a host of different responses within individuals, from heightened autonomic nervous response that occurs in the presence of a romantic partner to the occasionally surreal wonder experienced in a deep and fulfilling long-term relationship. History is rife with examples of romantic love. Without getting too specific, the feelings experienced by a bride and groom on their wedding day or a couple on a romantic anniversary date are prime examples of romantic love. It is no stretch of the imagination that the universality of this behavior makes it a hallmark of humanity.
         While romantic love describes a very broad spectrum of responses and effects among humans, it still can be classified as behavior under the very strict conditions of the given definition. The second part of the definition is critical: it allows for behavior to be defined as any subset of the entire range of activities of a living animal in its environment, as long as they are "recurrently identifiable and classifiable by the observer." The act of falling in love indeed encompasses a valid subset of human behavior that is both identifiable and classifiable by an observer as a function of the environment. While many distinct "activities" (as defined here) are involved, such as hormonal secretion, changes in neurochemistry, and the activation of reward pathways, they nonetheless come together to form the single, seemingly broad concept known as love. Many rigorous experiments have been performed to test people who are considered "in love," and for the most part they have contributed to the larger goal of systematically defining and characterizing love from the ground up. Thus, love is not merely a cultural or social construction, but a set of biologically governed and environmentally influenced processes that fit nicely with other viable behaviors.
         Love is of interest to me not only as a member of the human race and an active participant in the behavior, but because it integrates well with many areas I am currently studying. I have a healthy habit of studying the neuroscientific correlates of emotions and behavior, simply because I knew next to nothing about the subject only several years ago and they are extremely applicable in the everyday world. In the past semester, I did a project on proclivities for violence, so this semester I decided to choose a more positive constellation of behaviors. Love seemed to be the perfect candidate, and I found a wealth of interesting literature to research. Finally, I realized that the research I would do for this assignment would give me an excellent head start for a term project I will be doing in a different class on romantic love and olfaction.
         The brain most likely supports romantic love through a wealth of different mechanisms. At the most basic level, it can support sexual attraction and arousal through the autonomic nervous system. Hormones released in the bloodstream tend to regulate the magnitude of these effects based on internal factors. These unconscious responses often accompany romantic love, though they represent a more primordial evolutionary need for reproduction. Because these functions are regulated effectively in the background, there is a high level of efficiency and a relatively low level of sophistication in this system.
         Biological attraction is regulated by similar mechanisms, though there is likely a higher degree of sophistication involved. Evolutionarily, it came about as an efficient way for choosing specific mating partners, though it is still difficult to track down how specific individuals trigger different levels of favorability within the neural pathways. It is certain, though, that the autonomic nervous system also plays a part in exciting the body in a sense of exhilaration. It is also likely that the dopamine and norepinephrine reward pathways regulate this behavior as reward pathways, leading not only to a sense of elation but also a near obsession with the romantic partner that could be comparable with addiction. In addition, it is believed that heightened levels of certain neurotrophic factors in the blood stream could contribute to these extreme emotional changes, as well.
         Commitment in romantic relationships is probably governed by more complex and less understood mechanisms. Commitment tends to occur naturally after many of the feelings of biological attraction have significantly weakened, and thus it is believed that the Dopamine and Norepinephrine pathways described above are slowly inhibited over time. While specific pathways for commitment may yet be unknown, it is likely that the release of neuropeptides such as oxytocin and vasopressin are involved in the feeling of security that embodies the commitment phase. It is important to note that, although one or another of these mechanisms may predominate at any given point in a relationship, romantic love thrives on all three working in harmony.