Detect sensitive areas of love

(brain) - The 'sensitive point' of the brain for love has been discovered in a neurotic patient.

An area deep inside the brain controls how quickly a person makes a decision about falling in love, according to a new study. This finding is derived from a 48-year-old man study, a man who now has a stroke, found that provides the first causal evidence that an area of ​​the brain called anterior insula (anterior insula) 'plays an important role in love' , lead researcher Stephanie Cacioppo, lead author of the study. This study was conducted at the University of Chicago.

In an earlier article that analyzed the research on this topic, Cacioppo and colleagues identified love as: 'a deliberate (and long-term) strong desire to connect with people. Other ' while desire, or sexual desire, is characterized by a deliberate state in a short time, the purpose to be satisfied.

In this study, patients have made decisions about libido in a normal way, but have shown that the response time is slower when making decisions about love, as opposed to typical participants. suitable for age, gender and ethnicity. The research results are presented in a "Selective Decision-Making Deficit in Love Following Damage to the Anterior Insula" article , (roughly translated as Declining the ability to make choices in love after a small lobe injury. Previous brain) published in Current Trends in Neurology magazine.

'This difference has been explained, that desire is a relatively specific symbol of sensory experiences, while love is a more abstract representation of those experiences', Cacioppo, a research assistant and assistant professor of psychology said. New data show that the small lobe in the back of the brain affects the sensation and control of movement, which is related to feelings of desire or desire, while the small front lobe plays a role in statues. More abstract representation of which there is love.

In an earlier article titled: 'The common neurological foundations between sexual desire and love: A fMRI analysis of multi-level Kernel density' Cacioppo and colleagues examined several scanning studies. The brain to consider, the difference between love and desire.

Studies have shown that the consistency in the anterior brain lobe is related to love and that the small lobe in the posterior brain is related to desire. However, like in all studies using magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), these findings are correlated.

"We deduced that, if the small lobe in the anterior brain is the source of the love response, we can find evidence for that by scanning the brain of a person whose small lobe in the previous brain has been damaged. love , "she said.

In the study, the researchers examined a 48-year-old heterosexual man in Argentina, who experienced a stroke that injured a small lobe in the brain. He was compared to a control group of 7 Argentinian men of the same age and had no small lobe damage in the anterior brain.

The patient and the controlled group were shown 40 random photos of the attractiveness of young girls wearing charming short and long skirts, and were asked if these girls were the subject of love. sex or love. Patients with lesions in the anterior lobe of the brain showed a slower reaction when asked the question.

"This study helps separate love from other biological factors ," the authors write.

Such studies can also help researchers look at the emotions of love by studying neurological activities rather than subjective questions.