A neurofunctional signature of romantic love predicts rewards on social media, effects of oxytocin and drug-cue reactivity
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Romantic love is a selective motivational state supporting pair bonding, yet its neural representation and relation to other affiliative-rewarding experiences remain unclear. Across eight fMRI studies ( n =420) spanning naturalistic affiliative-reward, pharmacological and addiction-relevant experiments, we developed and evaluated multivariate whole-brain decoders of romantic love and friendship. Both signatures engaged mesocorticolimbic reward systems and the precuneus, yet were dissociable at the whole-brain level and in their recruitment of social-cognitive systems. The love signature generalized to reward on social media, was specific to positive valence, and did not track sweet-taste or monetary reward, indicating a distinct social-affiliative reward representation. Oxytocin selectively increased love - but not friendship - signature reactivity to the romantic partner. In an independent drug-cue-reactivity dataset, the love signature specifically identified heavy cannabis users. These findings establish a dissociable neurofunctional signature of romantic love in conserved bonding circuits that extend to digital affiliation and are co-opted in addiction.
Institutions: University of Hong Kong, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Central South University, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Xiangya Hospital Central South University, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Ruhr University Bochum, Sichuan Normal University, Southwest University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College
Language: English
Subfield: Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7203623515