Incredible maps reveal exactly where in the brain different types of LOVE are felt – from romantic relationships to affection for your dog
Although tons of sentimental poetry, plays and love songs may disagree, scientists always try to emphasize that love is not felt in the heart, but in the brain.
Now, thanks to a new study by researchers at Aalto University in Finland, romantically inclined scientists can be even more specific.
From romantic love for your partner to the love you feel for your dog, incredible maps reveal which regions of the brain are activated by different types of love.
While romantic love is felt strongly in the social regions of the brain, a parent’s love for their children produces the most powerful reaction of all.
Dr. Pärttyli Rinne, a philosopher and researcher who led the study, said: “In parental love, there was a profound activation of the brain’s reward system in the striatum area during the imagination of love, and this was not observed for any other type of love.”
Researchers have mapped brain activation during the experience of love, to reveal exactly where different types of love are felt. Pictured: The areas of the brain most commonly associated with interpersonal love
To see exactly where love was felt in the brain, the researchers recruited 55 parents who described themselves as being in a romantic relationship.
In an fMRI machine, these participants were read a series of short stories, each describing a different type of love.
For example, to evoke a feeling of parental love, participants were read: “You see your newborn baby for the first time. The baby is sweet, healthy, and strong—the greatest wonder of your life. You feel love for the little one.”
To provide a baseline measure for comparison, participants were also given a few exceptionally boring neutral scenarios, such as staring out the bus window.
55 participants were placed in an fMRI scanner while they were read stories detailing different types of love. Pictured is the brain experiencing romantic love
The researchers found that most forms of interpersonal love activated the same areas to varying degrees, but the most intense of all was parental love.
Parental love activates deep regions of the brain’s reward system that are not seen in any other type of love (archive image)
Participants were then left to sit for 10 seconds to imagine themselves in the scenario while researchers took careful recordings of their brain states.
By combining the results from each participant, the researchers were able to create a map for six different types of love.
Dr. Rinne has already mapped the different types of love felt in the body, but this provides a first glimpse into the neurological processes behind this experience.
It was found that most types of love involving people activated similar areas of the social regions of the brain.
Dr. Rinne explains: “The activation pattern of love is generated in social situations in the basal ganglia, the midline of the forehead, the precuneus and the temporo-parietal junction on the sides of the back of the head.”
The main difference between the types of love was the intensity of brain activation they triggered.
Romantic love, as well as other forms of interpersonal love, tends to be felt in the basal ganglia, the midline of the forehead, and the back and sides of the head. Pictured: Crazy Stupid Love
The more we know someone, the more the brain regions associated with social activity are activated. Pictured: Brain activation associated with a friend’s love
Compared to the love of a friend, the love we feel for strangers (pictured) produces relatively little brain activation
For example, compare the brain map associated with the love you feel for a stranger to the one associated with love for a friend.
The closer someone is to us, the more intensely the social regions of our brain activate in response to that feeling of love.
The most powerful activation of all was the love felt by a parent for their child, followed by romantic love.
However, the pattern of brain activation was not only influenced by proximity to the object of our love, but also by the type of object.
Love of pets and love of nature produce markedly different activation patterns than those produced by love of other humans.
For example, a love of nature activates regions of the reward center associated with visual processing and spatial awareness.
The type of brain activation observed also varies depending on the type of object loved. Love for pets (pictured) produces very different activation patterns than love for another person
Love of nature activated brain regions associated with spatial awareness and visual processing (photo)
The only exception was found among participants who were also pet owners.
Researchers have found that living with your furry friend brings such significant changes to your thought processes that they can spot the pet’s owners by their brain activity.
Participants were read a sentence like this: “You are at home, lying on the couch, and your pet cat comes over to you. The cat curls up next to you and purrs sleepily. You love your pet.”
For pet owners, and no one else, hearing this story also activates social areas of the brain more typically associated with love for humans.
Researchers previously mapped where on the body different types of love were felt by asking where participants tended to feel the experience most.
The researchers found that participants who had their own pets experienced brain activation in social regions of the brain when they imagined a scenario involving their pets.
This confirms a growing body of evidence showing that humans’ love for their pets can truly transcend species boundaries.
Recent research has shown that when humans look into their pets’ eyes, it activates oxytocin pathways, similar to the mother-child bond.
Dr Rinne says: “When looking at pet love and the brain activity associated with it, the areas of the brain associated with sociality statistically reveal whether or not a person is a pet owner.
“When it comes to pet owners, these areas are more active than with non-pet owners.
