Neurobiology of LoveNeurobiology of Love

Prof. Hani Hamed Dessoki, M.D.Psychiatry

Prof. Psychiatry

Chairman of Psychiatry Department

Beni Suef University

Supervisor of Psychiatry Department

El-Fayoum University

APA member

Agenda

• Definitions• Chemistry of love• Bonding hormone• Chemistry of Attraction• Critical Areas of the

Brain for Love and Attachment

• Spirituality

Emotions

Responses of the whole organism, involving...

• physiological arousal (autonomic/hormonal)• expressive behaviors (behavioral)• conscious experience (cognitive)

Emotions

• Negative• Fear• Anger• Grief• Hate

• Positive• Love• Empathy• Caring• Joy

useful as motivation for moving away from what one doesn't want

useful as motivation for moving towards what one does want

A Biological Purpose for Emotion?

• Signaling function (that we might take action)

• Provide strong impulse to take action

• Promote unique, stereotypical patterns of physiological change and behavior

Cognition Drives Emotion

Cognition

Emotion

Behavior Drives Emotion

Behavior

Emotion

Spirituality

• Meaning Faith • Purpose Hope • Relationships Love

Love

• Self • Others • Natural environment • A higher power • Supernatural forces

Positive Emotions

• Faith, love, hope, joy, forgiveness, compassion, and mystical illumination are important limbic system drivers of human flourishing

Vaillant GE. Spiritual Evolution: how we are wired for faith, hope and love. Broadway books, New York. 2008.

Positive Emotions

• Are parasympathetic and soothing as opposed to the negative emotions which are sympathetic and arousing

• Are long-term and reach out

• Negative emotions are immediate and protective

• Positive emotions create relational bonds which build community rather than the negative emotions which protect the immediate individual

Mirror neurons play a major explanatory role in the understanding of a number of human features, from imitation to empathy, and language learning. It has also been claimed that damages in these cerebral structures can be responsible for mental deficits such as autism.

Love is a story

• How do they form? • Stories come from past experiences, thoughts, and feelings about

relationships • Stories can and do change, but new stories start with old stories • Stories are affected by cultural norms

Chemical Basis of Love`

Chemistry Of Love

• Attraction, love and relationships are fueled by actual chemicals

• Chemicals responsible for our behavior in love and relationships belong to the class of "neurochemicals", compounds forming largely in the brain and participating in neural activity.

• First attraction, first "sparks" in the air followed by falling in love are caused by combination of three neurochemicals: phenylethylamine, norepinephrine and dopamine.

• Later stages of long relationships are guiding by another two: oxytocin and serotonin.

- Phenylethylamine (PEA), acts as a releasing agent of norepinephrine and dopamine.

- The first attraction causes us to produce more PEA, which results in those dizzying feelings associated with romantic love.

- Large quantities of PEA increase both physical and emotional energy and at the same time release more dopamine. 

ATTRACTION:

• What makes us feel attracted to another person?• familiarity• propinquity (geographical closeness)• complementarity (opposites attract)• similarity (birds of a feather…)• income, profession, status, power (especially for men)• common values: long term• personality

Chemistry of attraction:

• Arousal: phenylethylamine (PEA)• Touch: endorphins• Touch: oxytocin• Arousal short lived: 6-24 months• Depletion of neurochemicals, wear and tear• Some people become addicted: change partners often

The Love Drug• Indeed, "love is a drug," says Helen Fisher, an

anthropologist at Rutgers University and author of Anatomy of Love.

• According to Dr. Fisher, "the ventral tegmental area is a clump of cells that makes dopamine, a natural stimulant, and sends it out to many brain religions when one is in love.

• This is the same region affected when you feel the rush of cocaine." Phenylethylamine produces the neurochemical dopamine, and contributes to the pleasurable, on-top-of-the-world feeling that attraction brings.

Chemistry of attraction:

• PEA (phenylethylamine):• called “the molecule of love”• euphoria• amphetamine-like substance• produced in brain capillaries (endothelium) and in

catecholaminergic terminals• low PEA levels associated with depression• some depressions successfully treated with PEA• some people become addicted to the PEA “high”

and change partners frequently to get it, as it’s higher early in a relationship

Bonding Hormon

Knowledge about the oxytocin (OT) system in the brain has increased greatly over the past decade.

Although this neuropeptide is best known for its peripheral effects, direct modulation of central nervous system (CNS) areas has also been implicated in OT’s actions, which include a major role in a wide range of affiliative behaviors.

Often referred to as the “social bonding” hormone, speculations are being made as to its applications and potential uses in enhancing human relationships.

OT is a nine amino acid peptide, synthesized primarily in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei (SON and PVN) of the hypothalamus.

Neurons in both the SON and PVN project to the posterior pituitary gland, where OT is released into the bloodstream in response to specific physiological events (e.g., sexual stimulation, nursing, stress) and exerts multiple peripheral effects.

INTRODUCTION

The few available studies of OT fiber staining in human brain suggest a generally similar pattern to the receptor mapping, with fibers present in the basal forebrain (e.g., septal nucleus, diagonal band of Broca, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis) and brainstem, but not in amygdala or hippocampus.

OT Fibers

Alterations in the OT system have been implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders.

Multiple types of psychopathology manifest in deficits in social functioning, including inability to maintain interpersonal relationships and engage in socially appropriate behavior.

The OT system may influence the efficacy of psychotherapy, as research has repeatedly shown that the therapeutic relationship is one of the largest predictors of therapeutic change.

OT may also have value as a therapeutic intervention.

Oxytocine and Relationship

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Critical areas of the brain for love and attachment

Orbitofrontal Cortex

Pituitary Gland

Amygdala

Hippocampus

Adrenal Glands Spinal Cord

Neural Circuitry

(Fight, Flight, or Freeze)

(Lower Limbic/Reptilian)

(Short-term Memory)

(Social/Emotional Control Center)

Brain Stem

Hypothalamus(Oxytocin Response)

An Interpersonal Neurobiology - Daniel Siegel

Convergence of neurobiology and attachment theory

• Human connections within relationships shape the neural connections of the brain from which the mind emerges.

Enhance the Relationship

Spirituality

“Spirituality simply means the direct experience of something special in life and living.”

- S.Biddolph

Selecting a Partner

• Similar values, backgrounds, and life goals are correlated with marital success

واحده - كمياتهم

• Teen marriages fail at a higher rate than do marriages of people in their 20s or 30s

• Higher education is associated with marital stability