Clinical relevance: New research maps the neural mechanisms behind different forms of love, revealing that each type activates distinct areas of the brain.

The study used fMRI to analyze brain responses to love for romantic partners, children, friends, pets, strangers, and nature. Interpersonal love primarily activates brain regions linked to social cognition and the brain’s reward system. Love for nature and pets involves unique neural patterns, influenced by both biological and cultural factors.

Love might be a “many-splendored thing,” but it also appears to take different forms. New research from Aalto University – and published in the Oxford journal Cerebral Cortex –   plots a roadmap of the neural mechanisms that make up the various forms of love. That map reveals that the different types of love engage disparate – and distinct – areas of the brain.

The study shows that it remains integral to forging and sustaining connections with other people, parents, and even things.

The Finnish researchers hoped to explain the neural basis of love beyond the well-documented romantic and maternal types. This also sought to bridge that gap by examining the brain’s response to six different objects of love.

“We now provide a more comprehensive picture of the brain activity associated with different types of love than previous research,” Pärttyli Rinne, the philosopher who organized the research project, explained in a press release. “The activation pattern of love is generated in social situations in the basal ganglia, the midline of the forehead, the precuneus, and the temporoparietal junction at the sides of the back of the head.”

Methodology of Love

Leveraging functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the team investigated brain activity related to love for romantic partners, children, friends, strangers, pets, and nature.

To stir those feelings, the researchers asked the study participants to listen to short stories written to target specific love types. The researchers then used fMRI to track the resulting brain activity. The findings suggest that the brain’s responses relies heavily on the object of affection, with different forms triggering separate neural networks.

The researchers discovered that interpersonal love, such as that for romantic partners, children, and friends, primarily triggers brain regions related to social cognition. These areas include the temporoparietal junction and midline structures, which are more active during love for people.

Notably, pet owners showed more obvious activity in these regions when thinking about their pets compared to participants without pets, suggesting a deeper emotional connection between pet owners and their animals.

The researchers also found that love for romantic partners, children, and friends elicited stronger and more widespread activation in the brain’s reward system, which includes the striatum, ventral tegmental area, and orbitofrontal cortex.

On the other hand, love for strangers, pets, and nature triggered less of a response in these regions, reflecting the weaker affiliative bonds normally linked to these forms of love.

Incidentally, the study found that love for nature showed up in brain regions different from those affiliated with interpersonal love. Specifically, affection for nature engaged the fusiform gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and superior parietal lobes. This implies that it could be tied to aesthetic appreciation and a sense of connection to the environment.

Biology, Culture Each Play a Part

The researchers suggest that the diverse neural patterns involved stem from biological and cultural sources. The study supports the concept that love, while rooted in fundamental neurobiological mechanisms, can also be influenced by outside factors.

For example, the stronger brain activity the researchers witnessed in pet owners underscores the role of cultural factors in forming emotional bonds.

The study results open up potential new ways to think about how different types of love might change based on neurological conditions or mental health issues. And by charting the brain’s reactions to different forms of affection, the study sheds light on how it operates on both biological and cultural levels.

Further Reading

Study Refutes Concept of Love Languages

Barriers to Loving: A Clinician’s Perspective

Dogs Can Smell Our Stress And It Burns Them Out