The Neurobiological Basis of Love: A Meta-Analysis of Human Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Maternal and Passionate Love
Year: 2022
Type: review
Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis
Abstract: Maternal and passionate love are both crucial for reproduction and involve attachment behaviors with high rewards. Neurobiological studies of attachment in animal and human neuroimaging studies have suggested that the coordination of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic pathways, coupled with the dopaminergic reward system, contribute to the formation and maintenance of maternal and passionate love. In the present study, we carried out a quantitative meta-analysis of human neuroimaging to identify common and dissociable neural substrates associated with maternal and passionate love, using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. The ALE results showed significant activation of the brain regions in the left ventral tegmental area (VTA), right thalamus, left substantia nigra, and the left putamen for maternal love, but in the bilateral VTA for passionate love. The meta-analytic neuroimaging evidence suggests the greater involvement of cognitive-affective regulation in maternal attachment and the greater desire to combine liking and wanting in romantic love behaviors. The conjunction analysis highlights the functional convergence of the VTA across the two types of human love, indicating a shared neurobiological mechanism of maternal and passionate love with evolutionary roots. Our findings suggest that the processing of both maternal and passionate love involve the affective and motivational regulation associated with dopaminergic systems; our neuroimaging evidence supports the notion that maternal and passionate love share a common evolutionary origin and neurobiological basis in the human brain.
Source: Brain Sciences
Authors: Hsuan-Chu Shih, Mu-En Kuo, Changwei Wu, Yi-Ping Chao, Hsu-Wen Huang, Chih-Mao Huang
Language: English
Subfield: Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,094
Awards: Age-Related and Individual Differences in Social-Cognitive Neuroscience of Cognitive Reserve, The Effects of Age and Loneliness on Neurocognitive Function in Social Cognition, Cultivation Of Mindfulness Via The Intelligent Neurofeedback And Disciplinary Vi Rtual Reality (Mindvr) Platform On Middle-Aged and Elderly Population
OpenAlex ID: W4283520400