Love at first sight or "love at first sight " can happen to you thanks to the activity of the prefrontal cortex - the newly discovered brain region plays a key role in the process of making decisions related to romantic feelings.
According to a new study by Irish scientists, different parts of the prefrontal cortex, responsible for making quick judgments about physical attractiveness as well as who is "half" of the subject only within a few milliseconds see a new face. This is the first study to use real-world dating to find out how quickly the brain makes emotional decisions.
The team conducted experiments with 78 women and 73 single men as well as non-gay men. Volunteers are required to attend a speedy date in which they will walk around the room and chat with each of the opposite sex within 5 minutes. After meeting and greeting, they filled out the form to show themselves what gender they would like to see again.
Before the date of the meeting, the team conducted brain imaging of volunteers. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the scientists then recorded the brain activity of the study subjects when they saw pictures of people who would meet in the date. For each photo, volunteers have a few seconds to evaluate, with a scale of 1-4 on the level of desire to increase dating with people in the photo. They also announce their own assessment of the physical attractiveness and likeness of the subject in the photo.
The team discovered, when the speedy date took place a few days later, when the volunteers had the opportunity to "face-to-face" with the subjects in the photo, they generally proved "loyal" to the seal. original image from the view. Nearly 63% of the time, volunteers volunteered to interact with the person whom he "had an affection" with and finally decided to match after 5 minutes of meeting lightning.
Live Science quoted Jeffrey Cooper, a member of the research team, who volunteered to find "first-mindedness" with another heterosexual volunteer within the actual study that also exchanged numbers. phone with each other, and about 10% - 20% of these couples contacted later.
What makes scientists extremely excited is the discovery of how the brain has made the decision to "love lightning". They found a link between a certain region in the prefrontal cortex called paracingulate cortex with the subject's final decisions about dating. This brain region has also increased activity when volunteers see photos of objects that they later confirm as their "half" through face-to-face meetings.
"We think this process is particularly relevant to comparing capabilities in a wide range of options or with a certain type of standard," Cooper said.
Meanwhile, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (ventromedial prefrontal cortex) is also particularly active when volunteers see the faces they consider attractive and also get the approval of most others. When they admire a face that is self-appealing but does not receive the appreciation of others, another area of the subject's brain is activated: rostromedial prefrontal cortex.
The team concludes, in the first few milliseconds when we see a new face, we will evaluate physical attractiveness. However, the prefrontal cortex rostromedial area will further analyze and quickly find out if the person is "in" with the subject. These are separate processes in the subject and help the subject find their "half" in a flash.
