Parental love is deeper than romantic love

Different types of love manifest differently in the brain, which responds most strongly to the love of parents for their children, followed by romantic love.

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland conducted the experiment Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) To measure the brain activity of volunteers stimulated by short stories related to six different types of love.

The results, summarized in a new study published recently in the journal Cerebral Cortex, show that love in close family relationships, especially between parents and childrenwas associated with significantly stronger and more widespread activation in the brain’s reward system.

Second, he highlighted that Couple or romantic loveIn which strong brain activity was also observed. Experts also analyzed love towards pets, towards nature, between strangers and between friends.

Areas of the brain where love is activated

There is no doubt that the feeling of love exists among all The most important human event. Love is the material that creates and maintains pair bonds, the attachments between parents and offspring and influences relationships with others, and even with domestic animals and nature in general.

Despite this, very little is known about it The nervous system of love. The aim of the new research was to characterise the brain regions involved in the six types of love described previously.

Experts said brain imaging records showed that Varieties of mutual love They more significantly affected social cognition brain regions in the temporoparietal junction and midline structures than love of pets or nature.

Biological and cultural factors

However, in the case of volunteers with pets, the impact in these areas was significantly greater than those without pets, indicating a causal effect. Personal and subjective experience in this dynamic.

In their findings, scientists indicate that the experience of love is made up of biological and cultural factors, Originating in the fundamental neurobiological mechanisms of attachment and bonding.

“We now provide a more complete picture of this Brain activity associated with different types of love. “The activation pattern of love in social situations originates in the basal ganglia, the midline of the forehead, the precuneus, and the temporoparietal junction on the posterior sides of the head,” explained Partelli Rinn, lead author of the study, in a press release.

Reference

Six types of love differentially recruit reward and social cognition brain regions. Partilli Rinne et al. Cerebral Cortex (2024). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae331