A new research focused on studying the biology of love has found that there are four tiny areas in our brain which form a circuit of love.
Larry Young of the Yerkes National Primate Research Centre at Emory University in Atlanta explains that not just emotional but there are also certain biological and genetic bases to love, with key players lying in the brain.
Larry reached this conclusion studying the brains of an unusual monogamous rodent.
Bianca Acevedo of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who is a part of the team of this research, has identified those tiny regions in the brain which form the basis of love and heartbreaks.
These regions are called, ventral tegmental area (VTA), the nucleus accumbens, the ventral pallidum and raphe nucleus.
VTA was found to be the most interesting for its teardrop shape and its importance in determining long-lasting and deep bonding in love. VTA appeared lit up in the functional magnetic resonance image when people newly in love were shown the images of their beloveds.
The results were similar for those deeply in love even after 20 years of marriage.
Helen Fisher, a researcher and professor at Rutgers University, says, “These are cells that make dopamine and send it to different brain regions,” and VTA becomes active “because you're trying to win life's greatest prize - a mating partner.”
But why are you shattered when love does not favor you? Scientists studied the brains of some recently heartbroken people for this quest and they found an additional activity happening in the nucleus accumbens region of their brains.
Scientists found that brain responds to love in the same way as it does to some drug addiction. So love can quite be called a romantic addiction and, alarmingly, the addiction factor seemed stronger in case of heartbreak.
“The brokenhearted show more evidence of what I'll call craving… Similar to craving the drug cocaine,” said Lucy Brown, a neuroscientist also at Einstein medical college.
Finally, the role of the other two regions - ventral pallidum and raphe nucleus - came to the forefront. Studying the brains of madly in love couples for 20 years, these two regions appeared lit up along with VTA.
Prof Fisher explained that ventral pallidum associates with attachment and hormones
define that decrease stress, and raphe nucleus generates serotonin that gives the sense of calmness.
Researchers are hopeful that these findings might lead to development of therapies or medication to help people in relationships.
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